| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Spain |
| Dates | 24 July – 8 August 1992 |
| Teams | 16 (from 6 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 5 (in 4 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Spain (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Poland |
| Third place |  Ghana |
| Fourth place |  Australia |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Goals scored | 87 (2.72 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Andrzej Juskowiak (7 goals) |
The 1992 Summer Olympics Football Tournament competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics featured 16 national sides from the six continental confederations. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four and each group played a round-robin tournament. At the end of the group stage, the top two teams advanced to the knockout stage, beginning with the quarter-finals and culminating with the gold medal match at Camp Nou on 8 August 1992.[1]
For the first time, an age limit has been set for participants under the age of 23 (Under-23), which has been used ever since.[2][3]
Spain became the first host country to win the gold medal in an Olympic football tournament since Belgium in 1920, an achievement which would not be repeated until Brazil won it in 2016.
Notably, these were the first matches played with football's new back-pass rule[4] and was the last Olympic football competition which was open to men only before the introduction of a women’s tournament four years later.[5]
- ^ "Football at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
- ^ "FIFA SETS OLYMPICS AGE LIMIT". Washington Post. 1 March 2024. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
- ^ "Sports News Briefs; Age Limit is Set For Games Soccer". New York Times. 4 July 1988. p. 34, Section 1. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
- ^ Miller, Nick (18 February 2015). "Who was the last goalkeeper to legally pick up a backpass?". the Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
- ^ Harvey, Randy (19 September 1993). "IOC to Welcome Palestine : Olympics: Two decades after Munich massacre, executive committee recommends membership". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 15 September 2024.