The 2012 Summer Olympic football final was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

match that took place at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

in London, United Kingdom on 11 August 2012 to determine the winner of the men's football tournament at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. It was the 23rd final of the men's football tournament at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, a

quadrennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption o ...

tournament contested for the men's under-23 national teams of

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

to decide the Olympic champions. In front of a crowd of 86,162,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

won their first Olympic gold medal in modality, beating

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, 2–1. It was Mexico's first major title since the

1999 FIFA Confederations Cup The 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fourth FIFA Confederations Cup, and the second organised by FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Mexico between 24 July and 4 August 1999. The tournament was won by Mexico, who beat Brazil 4–3 in the fina ...

on home soil and their first Olympic gold medal in football, both wins involved Mexico's final meeting with Brazil in these events. As of the 2024 tournament, this was the most recent Olympic football final to end in regulation time (90 minutes).

Venue

The final was played at

in the

Borough of Brent Brent () is a borough in north-west London, England. It is known for landmarks such as Wembley Stadium, the Swaminarayan Temple and the Kiln Theatre. It also contains the Welsh Harp reservoir and the Park Royal commercial estate. The local au ...

in London, United Kingdom. The current Wembley Stadium opened in 2007 on the site of the original stadium, the demolition of which took place between 2002 and 2003. It is owned by

The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

and serves as England's

national football stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

. The original stadium, formerly known as the Empire Stadium, opened in 1923 and served as the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

for the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

as well as its football tournament, including the final. It then hosted matches at the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

, including the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, which saw hosts England beat

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

4–2 after extra time, and at

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in ...

, including the

, in which

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

defeated the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

2–1 after extra time via the

golden goal The golden goal is a sports rule used in association football, Australian rules football, bandy, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, and rugby league to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the ...

rule. Wembley also hosted every final of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

from the White Horse final of 1923 to

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Route to the final

Brazil

The

Brazil national under-23 football team The Brazil national under-23 football team () represents Brazil in international football competitions during Olympic Games and Pan American Games. The selection is limited to players under the age of 23, except three overage players. The team i ...

led by

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...

advanced as favorite to the final against

, after 5 victories in 5 matches. Brazil, under coach

Mano Menezes Luiz Antônio Venker Menezes (born 11 June 1962), known as Mano Menezes, is a Brazilian professional football Coach (sport), coach, currently the head coach of Grêmio FBPA, Grêmio. Menezes managed the Brazil national football team, Brazil na ...

, beat Egypt, Belarus and New Zealand in the preliminary round, Honduras in the quarter-finals and South Korea in the semi-finals. Before the Games, they beat Great Britain 2–0 in a friendly game.

Mexico

Mexico qualified by advancing to the

of the

2012 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship The 2012 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the thirteenth edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship, CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted association football, footb ...

, they topped

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for Grand tourer, grand touring (GT) cars used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World S ...

winning all their matches. They were drawn in

along with

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Mexico started with a 0–0 draw against South Korea. In their second match, Mexico came out with a 3–0 triumph over Gabon; with

Giovani dos Santos Giovani dos Santos Ramírez ( ; born 11 May 1989) is a Mexican former professional Association football, footballer. A versatile Forward (association football), forward, dos Santos played as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfi ...

netting the two goals. Mexico then confirmed top spot in the group by beating Switzerland 1–0, with a goal from

Oribe Peralta Oribe Peralta Morones (born 12 January 1984) is a Mexican former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He is an Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament, Olympic ...

in the 69th minute. In doing so, Mexico advance to the knockout stage for the first time since 1996. In the quarter-finals played at Wembley Stadium, Mexico struggled against a very motivated and disciplined

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, who had finished second in

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles wer ...

. Mexico went up 2–0, with Jorge Enríquez scoring in the 10th minute and

Javier Aquino Javier Ignacio Aquino Carmona (, born 11 February 1990) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a full-back for Liga MX club Tigres UANL. He is an Olympic gold medalist. Aquino made his debut with Cruz Azul in 2010, playing in over ...

in the 62nd minute.

Moussa Konaté Moussa Konaté may refer to: * Moussa Konaté (writer), a Malian writer * Moussa Konaté (kickboxer), a French Muay Thai kickboxer * Moussa Konaté (footballer), a Senegalese footballer {{disambiguation ...

came up with the first of Senegal. Ibrahima Baldé equalised seven minutes later, making it 2–2. Ihe first period of

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

, dos Santos at the 98th minute made it 3–2, in favor of Mexico.

Héctor Herrera Héctor Miguel Herrera López (; born 19 April 1990) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as midfielder for Liga MX club Toluca. Herrera made his professional debut for Pachuca. Three years later, he was transferred to Portuguese cl ...

sealed the victory scoring at the 109th minute. In the semifinals, they came back from a 0-1 deficit to beat Japan 3-1 with goals from Peralta,

Marco Fabián Marco Jhonfai Fabián de la Mora (; born 21 July 1989) is a Mexican professional Association football, footballer who plays as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder. He is an Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's tou ...

and

Javier Cortés Javier Cortés Granados (born 20 July 1989) is a former Mexican professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is an Olympic gold medalist. Club career Javier Cortés began his playing in the Segunda División for Prepa Pumas in Apertur ...

Match

Summary

Mexico's

opened the scoring in the first 29 seconds of the game, being assisted by

, making it the fastest goal of the Olympics and in any FIFA tournament final. Peralta scored the second goal in the 75th minute, assisted by a Fabián free-kick.

Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk ...

discounted late.

Details

References

External links

Football - Brazil vs Mexico - Men's Gold Final , London 2012 Olympic Games
{{DEFAULTSORT:Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Men's tournament - Final Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...