The men's football tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held in
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and four other cities in the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
from 7 to 23 August. Associations affiliated with
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
were invited to enter their men's under-23 teams in regional qualifying competitions, from which 15 teams, plus the host nation, reached the final tournament. Men's teams were allowed to augment their squads with up to three players over the age of 23.
For these Games, the men competed in a 16-team tournament. Preliminary matches commenced on 7 August, the day before the Games'
opening ceremony
An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event. . The teams were grouped into four pools of four teams each for a round-robin preliminary round. The top two teams in each pool advanced to an eight-team single-elimination bracket.
The tournament was won by
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, who beat
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
1–0 in the final, as part of a record streak of 12 consecutive wins in football competitions at the Summer Olympics (six wins in 2004, six wins in 2008).
Despite the absence of an official best player award, the FIFA website highlighted
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...
's campaign by stating that he "posed defenders more problems than anyone else in the tournament".
Juan Román Riquelme
Juan Román Riquelme (; born 24 June 1978) is an Argentine former professional footballer and current vice-president of Boca Juniors, the club where he spent the majority of his playing career.[Javier Mascherano
Javier Alejandro Mascherano (born 8 June 1984) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of the Argentina national under-20 team. As a player, he played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder, most not ...]
also received special mentions.
Qualification
A
National Olympic Committee
A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...
may enter one men's team in football competitions.
Squads
For the men's tournament, each nation submitted a squad of 18 players, 15 of whom had to be born on or after 1 January 1985, and three of whom could be overage players, by 23 July 2008.
[Regulations of the Olympic Football Tournaments](_blank)
A minimum of two goalkeepers (plus one optional alternate goalkeeper) had to be included in the squad.
Match officials
On 22 April 2008,
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
released the list of match referees that will officiate at the Olympics.
All times are China Standard Time
The time in China follows a single standard time offset of UTC+08:00 (eight hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time), even though the country spans almost five geographical time zones. The official national standard time is called ''Beijing Tim ...
(UTC+8
UTC+08:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +08:00.
With an estimated population of 1.708 billion living within the time zone, roughly 24% of the world population, it is the most populous time zone in the world, as well as a ...
).
Group stage
Group winners and runners-up advanced to the quarter-finals.
Group A
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Group B
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Group C
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Group D
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Knockout stage
Quarter-finals
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Semi-finals
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Bronze medal match
Gold medal match
Final ranking
Statistics
Goalscorers
With four goals, Giuseppe Rossi of Italy was the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 75 goals were scored by 53 different players, with only one of them credited as own goal.
;4 goals
*
Giuseppe Rossi
Giuseppe Rossi (; born 1 February 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward. Born in the United States, Rossi spent most of his career in Europe with Villarreal and Fiorentina, in addition to spells with other clubs in England, I ...
;3 goals
*
Mousa Dembélé
*
Victor Obinna
Victor Nsofor Obinna (born 25 March 1987) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Obinna in Igbo, literally means "father's heart". He played for Chievo in Italy's Serie B, having played regularly in Serie A with ...
;2 goals
*
Sergio Agüero
Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest play ...
*
Ezequiel Lavezzi
Ezequiel Iván Lavezzi (; born 3 May 1985) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a forward. During his career, his most important attributes were his pace, hardworking style of play, technique, creativity, and dribbling ab ...
*
Ángel Di María
Ángel Fabián Di María (born 14 February 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for club Juventus and the Argentina national team. He can play as either a winger or attacking midfielder.
Di María began his career with R ...
*
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...
*
Kevin Mirallas
Kevin Antonio Joel Gislain Mirallas y Castillo (born 5 October 1987), known as Kevin Mirallas (), is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Cypriot side AEL Limassol.
Mirallas started his professional career in France wit ...
*
Diego
Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''.
Et ...
*
Jô
João Alves de Assis Silva (born 20 March 1987), known as Jô () or João Alves, is a Brazilian professional footballer.
He has previously played for Nagoya Grampus, CSKA Moscow, Manchester City, Everton, Galatasaray, Internacional, Atlétic ...
*
Thiago Neves
Thiago Neves Augusto (born 27 February 1985), known as Thiago Neves, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder.
Club career
Thiago Neves was born in Curitiba. Playing for Fluminense in 2008, he scored a hat-t ...
*
Ronaldinho
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a winger. Wide ...
*
Rafael Sóbis
Rafael Augusto Sóbis do Nascimento (born 17 June 1985) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward.
Before joining Ceará, Sóbis played for Internacional, Real Betis, Al-Jazira, Fluminense and Tigres UANL. He won t ...
*
Sekou Cissé
Sekou Cissé (born 23 May 1985) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a striker. He most recently played for Anorthosis Famagusta in the Cypriot First Division.
Club career
Cissé began his career in his home country, but moved t ...
*
Salomon Kalou
Salomon Armand Magloire Kalou (born 5 August 1985) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward and winger for Djiboutian club Arta/Solar7.
He previously played for Feyenoord from 2003 to 2006 and Chelsea from 2006 to 2012. ...
*
Gerald Sibon
Gerald Sibon (born 19 April 1974) is a retired Dutch footballer who played as a forward. He is the current performance coach for A-League club Adelaide United.
Club career
Europe
He featured for FC Twente in the 1993–94 season as a substit ...
*
Chinedu Obasi
Chinedu Ogbuke "Edu" Obasi (born 1 June 1986) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward.
Club career
Lyn
Born in Enugu, Nigeria, Obasi started his football career at River Lane Youth Club Enugu and JC Raiders in his homelan ...
*
Sacha Kljestan
Sacha Bryan Kljestan (; born September 9, 1985) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy.
Youth and college
Kljestan was raised in Huntington Beach, California, and played for th ...
;1 goal
*
Lautaro Acosta
Lautaro Germán Acosta (born 14 March 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for Club Atlético Lanús as a winger.
He started his professional career at Lanús, making his debut with the first team at 18. He also spent four ye ...
*
Diego Buonanotte
Diego Mario Buonanotte Rende (; born 19 April 1988) is an Argentine naturalized Chilean Association football, footballer who plays for Peruvian club Sporting Cristal as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder and Midfielder#Wing ...
*
Juan Román Riquelme
Juan Román Riquelme (; born 24 June 1978) is an Argentine former professional footballer and current vice-president of Boca Juniors, the club where he spent the majority of his playing career.[Ruben Zadkovich
Ruben Anton Zadkovich ( hr, Zadković, ; born 23 May 1986) is a former Australian professional football (soccer) player, and manager of Perth Glory. He played for 6 clubs in a career that spanned between England and Australia, notably becoming a ...]
*
Laurent Ciman
Laurent Franco Ciman (born 5 August 1985) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a defender. He currently serves as an assistant coach for CF Montréal in Major League Soccer.
Club career Charleroi
Ciman began his career in ...
*
Faris Haroun
*
Anderson
Anderson or Andersson may refer to:
Companies
* Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910
* Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car
* Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer
* Anderson ...
*
Hernanes
Anderson Hernanes de Carvalho Viana Lima (born 29 May 1985), known as Hernanes (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a central or attacking midfielder.
Hernanes began his career with São Paulo, where he won the Ca ...
*
Marcelo
Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. The Italian version of the name is Marcello, differing in having an additional "l". Marcelo may refer to:
* Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapi ...
*
Alexandre Pato
Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva (; born 2 September 1989), commonly known as Alexandre Pato () or just Pato, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker.
Pato began his career as a youth player for Internacional in 2000, maki ...
*
Georges Mandjeck
*
Stéphane Mbia
Stéphane Mbia Etoundi (born 20 May 1986) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or defender.
He played 179 games and scored nine goals in Ligue 1 over nine seasons playing for Rennes, Marseille and Toul ...
*
Dong Fangzhuo
Dong Fangzhuo (; born 23 January 1985) is a Chinese former professional footballer who played as a forward.
Club career Early career
Dong first came to prominence in 2000 when he was named the most valuable player in an under-17 tournament. He ...
*
Robert Acquafresca
Robert Acquafresca (; born 11 September 1987) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker.
He is a former Italy under-21 international and represented Italy at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Club career
Early career
Bor ...
*
Sebastian Giovinco
Sebastian Giovinco (; born 26 January 1987) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. A quick and creative player on the ball, Giovinco was a versatile forward capable of playing in multiple offensive positions.
Gio ...
*
Riccardo Montolivo
Riccardo Montolivo (; born 18 January 1985) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He most notably played for Fiorentina, AC Milan, and the Italy national team.
A versatile and creative player, Montolivo began ...
*
Tommaso Rocchi
Tommaso Rocchi (; born 19 September 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as striker. He spent a large part of his career with Lazio and is the club's sixth highest goalscorer of all time, three behind Bruno Giordano. A ...
*
Gervinho
Gervais Yao Kouassi (born 27 May 1987), known as Gervinho, is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Greek Super League club Aris and the Ivory Coast national team.
Gervinho began his career at ASEC Abidjan and Toumod ...
*
Yohei Toyoda
*
Kim Dong-jin
Kim Dong-jin (born 29 January 1982) is a former South Korean footballer who played as a full-back or a wing-back. He is currently the assistant coach of Hong Kong Premier League club Kitchee.
Club career
Kim started his professional caree ...
*
Park Chu-young
Park Chu-young (; ; also romanised as Park Ju-young; born 10 July 1985) is a South Korean footballer who plays for Ulsan Hyundai as a forward.
Club career FC Seoul
In February 2005, Park joined a K League club FC Seoul with the highest sa ...
*
Ryan Babel
Ryan may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
*Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
Places Australia
* Division of Ryan, an elector ...
*
Otman Bakkal
Otman Bakkal (born 27 February 1985) is a Dutch retired international footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.
He began his career at PSV, and was loaned to Den Bosch, Eindhoven, Twente and Feyenoord. After making a permanent move to ...
*
Jeremy Brockie
Jeremy Russell Brockie (born 7 October 1987) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a forward.
He has represented New Zealand at senior international level, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup and at the 2008 Olympic Games, and wa ...
*
Olubayo Adefemi
*
Victor Anichebe
Victor Chinedu Anichebe (born 23 April 1988) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward.
Early life
Anichebe was born in Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria but moved to Liverpool, Merseyside, England aged one. His family ori ...
*
Peter Odemwingie
Peter Osaze Odemwingie (born 15 July 1981) is a retired Nigerian professional footballer who played as a forward and winger.
Odemwingie grew up in Uzbekistan and Russia and began his career with Bendel Insurance in the Nigeria Premier League. ...
*
Chibuzor Okonkwo
Chibuzor Augustine Okonkwo (born 16 December 1988) is a Nigerian footballer who currently plays as a full-back for Kwara United F.C. Although he is naturally right-footed, he can play on either side of the pitch.
Career
In January 2007 Okonkw ...
*
Isaac Promise
Isaac Promise (2 December 1987 – 2 October 2019) was a Nigerian footballer. He was the captain of the football team representing Nigeria which won the silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He played professionally for 14 seasons ...
*
Miljan Mrdaković
Miljan Mrdaković (, ; 6 May 1982 – 22 May 2020) was a Serbian professional footballer who played as a striker.
A journeyman, he played for 20 clubs across ten countries and scored 150 goals in all competitions. He also represented Serbia at ...
*
Slobodan Rajković
Slobodan Rajković ( sr-cyr, Слободан Рајковић, ; born 3 February 1989) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Hungarian club MTK Budapest.
Club career
Born in Belgrade, Rajković started his career ...
*
Đorđe Rakić
Đorđe Rakić ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе Ракић, ; born 31 October 1985) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Career Club career
Rakić played for Radnički Kragujevac from 1992 until January 2006, then for OFK ...
*
Jozy Altidore
Josmer Volmy "Jozy" Altidore ( ; born November 6, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club New England Revolution.
Altidore made his professional debut in 2006, at the age of 16, with ...
*
Stuart Holden
Stuart Alistair Holden (born August 1, 1985) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder, and is currently a lead TV game analyst for Fox Sports. Holden is part of the ownership group for Spanish La Liga soccer ...
;Own goals
*
Slobodan Rajković
Slobodan Rajković ( sr-cyr, Слободан Рајковић, ; born 3 February 1989) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Hungarian club MTK Budapest.
Club career
Born in Belgrade, Rajković started his career ...
(playing against Ivory Coast)
References
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External links
Olympic Football Tournaments Beijing 2008 - Men FIFA.com
FIFA Technical Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Football At The 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's Tournament
Men
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chro ...
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
Lionel Messi