How Has Olympic Soccer Evolved?

A look at the pantheon of greats who’ve passed through the competition offers a sense of how the tournament has evolved in modern times.

“The 2008 Olympics changed my whole life,” Angel Di Maria once recalled.

In hindsight, a glance at his trophy cabinet, which includes a Champions League, Copa America and a World Cup, might suggest he was always bound for a place in football’s upper echelons. Yet, when he was called up to Argentina’s Olympic squad in 2008, his condition as a 20-year-old winger at Benfica was one of survival and permanence. “I barely played for two seasons” before the call from coach Sergio Batista, he told the Players Tribune. Once in Beijing, his fortunes changed.

This didn’t happen immediately. Despite the call up, it seemed there was no actual room for Di Maria in Argentina’s starting lineup, which consisted of Atletico Madrid’s Sergio Aguero, Napoli’s Ezequiel Lavezzi and one Lionel Messi. Juan Roman Riquelme played the conducting role. Over the first three games, Di Maria slowly earned himself a spot, assisting Lavezzi in a 1–0 win against Australia and winning a penalty against Serbia. He played a key role in the knockout rounds, scoring the winner in extra time against the Netherlands and assisting the first in a 3–0 rout against a Brazilian boasting Marcelo, Alexandre Pato and Ronaldinho. In the final, Argentina were held off by Nigeria, a perennial footballing force at the Olympics, until a darting second-half run by Di Maria was met with a leading ball by Messi.

“It was the most fun I’ve ever had playing football. All I had to do was run into space,” Di Maria later recalled, “and the ball would arrive at my feet. Like magic.”

As Nigeria’s goalkeeper crept up, Di Maria scooped the ball over him and into the back of the net. 1–0. Argentina in gold.

There is a strong allure to the Olympic Cinderella narrative. The competition, effectively an under-23 World Cup since 1992, is the last major international tournament before players hit the big leagues. Over the years, it has served as a stage for the likes of Messi, Neymar and other major talent to test their mettle in the international stage. For some spectators, it’s an opportunity to size up the next generation. Others may hope to witness a future Ballon d’Or break out.

The Barcelona Olympics — the only true under-23 competition, before countries were allocated older players — were the first to serve as a spotlight for young talent. (FIFA, to protect its World Cup, forbade professional players from participating in previous iterations.) “It’s a different tournament. It is difficult,” Luis Enrique, a gold medalist with Spain, remembered. “Just being part of the Olympic team is special.”

The Spanish campaign ended at a packed Camp Nou. A late goal from Kiko, then at Cádiz, clinched gold in a thrilling 3–2 final against Poland. The captain of that Spanish side? A certain Pep Guardiola, a 22-year-old European Champion with Barcelona, who was crowned player of the tournament.

Beyond the gold medalists, the 1992 Olympics introduced players who would go on to define generations. Among them were Faustino Asprilla, a Colombian winger for Atletico Nacional who would sign for Parma that summer, and Alexi Lalas, who until that point had only played collegiate soccer. Poland, the silver medalists, were led by Andrzej Juskowiak, a Lech Poznań wonderkind who moved to Sporting CP after finishing as the top scorer of the competition.

Over the years, certain Olympic campaigns have lingered in the collective memory over others. In the modern era, one tournament stands above the rest: Atlanta 1996.

The 1996 Olympics were host to a pantheon of future greats. For starters: Gianluigi Buffon, Alessandro Nesta and Fabio Cannavaro — all of whom would go on to win the 2006 World Cup — were knocked out in the group stage. Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira, crowned world champions just two years later, were out in the quarter finals along with Raúl Gonzalez, a Real Madrid legend in the making, and Mexico’s Cuauhtémoc Blanco. At the podium, in bronze, were the Brazilians: Dida, Roberto Carlos, Rivaldo and Ronaldo (O Fenomeno). The Silver medalists? Diego Simeone, Roberto Ayala, Javier Zanetti, Juan Sebastián Verón and Hernan Crespo.

That Nigeria took home the gold against such competition is remarkable enough. Kanu — who had already played in two Champions League finals with Ajax — and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Jay-Jay Okocha played leading roles throughout the tournament. The team’s run, memorialized in Yemi Bamiro’s documentary “Super Eagles 96,” is remembered most of all for its dramatics. A legendary semi-final comeback against Brazil — Kanu would score a late equalizer to force the game into extra time, followed by a golden goal four minutes into extra time — led to a final against Argentina. Nigeria’s second-half winner, taking advantage of a comically poor offside trap set by the Argentines, sealed their gold medal finish. “To see Nigerians smiling, laughing, and celebrating,” recalled the daughter of Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, “I hadn’t seen that in such a long time.”

The nature of Nigeria’s win — and the fact they won at all — points to how the Olympics have leveled playing grounds in international football. The small tournament format, with only 16 participating countries, means qualifiers are restricted and slippery. (Powerhouses like Germany, Brazil, Italy and Argentina often miss out altogether.) At 21 or 22 years, most talent is still raw, meaning less accomplished footballing nations have perhaps a better opportunity to compete with the favorites.

The 2000 Olympics offered a similar opportunity. “We hadn’t necessarily gone to Sydney to win,” striker Patrick Suffo told ESPN in 2020. “We’d gone for an adventure… We realized, as the matches went on, that we could write another chapter in our history.”

Eto’o was on the back of a breakout season at Mallorca when he joined Cameroon. The competition hosted future Barcelona stars including Ronaldinho, then a midfielder for Gremio, Carles Puyol, Xavi and Eto’o. It was also a set piece clinic. Cameroon’s dramatic 2–1 quarterfinal victory over Brazil is perhaps best remembered for Modeste M’bami’s golden goal, though two impressive free kicks — first by Patrick Mboma and later by Ronaldinho — are rewatch worthy. In the final, Xavi’s second minute set piece opened the scoring for Spain, before a Cameroonian rally, including a late goal by Eto’o, led the game to penalties. Cameroon would win 5–3.

What of the Olympics now? This landscape has changed drastically over the years, due in part to the rapid globalization of the sport and shifting priorities and attitudes at the club level. Gone are the days of generational prodigies Messi or Ronaldinho roaming free. Today, most promising players at European clubs are denied participation, from Alejandro Garnacho and Enzo Fernandez to Bradley Barcola and Mykhailo Mudryk.

Perhaps for this reason, the past several editions have lacked glimmer. Champions are either established greats — Neymar — or dimmer prospects who are bound for the sport’s middle management.

Take the 2021 edition. Of the podium-finishing countries in Tokyo, not a single player — Matheus Cunha, Malcolm, Oyarzabal, the entire Mexican team — has developed into a world class talent. (The matter of Richarlison remains an open question, though it is rapidly closing.) An exception could be made for Koaru Mitoma, who signed for Brighton four days after scoring in the Bronze medal match against Mexico and who still shows promise.

If it seems too soon to judge, consider the 2016 Olympics. Neymar had returned to Brazil as a 24-year-old ringer after forming part of the Brazilian side that lost to Mexico in London. (For its part, Mexico’s 2012 squad included Hector Herrera, Giovani Dos Santos and Raul Jimenez, who would all go on to enjoy mildly successful professional careers.) Gabriel Jesus, a 19-year-old left winger, scored three goals. He joined Manchester City a year later — his season leading Palmeiras to the Brazilian title, though, may have been more influential in the matter. Germany, the 2016 silver medalists, counted Serge Gnabry (already at Arsenal) and Schalke’s Leon Goretzka among their ranks. Two future Premier League stalwarts were left behind in the quarter finals: Heung Ming Son, already at Spurs, and Bruno Fernandes, a puttering presence at Udinese.

Thus, erhaps the most telling detail of this Olympic era is its absences: Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland. Of today’s generation of Ballon d’Or hopefuls, none have competed in the Olympics.

What’s the point of watching now? The answer might be found in one of the most peculiar Olympic cases. In 2004, Carlos Tevez scored eight goals as Argentina thrashed nearly every opponent on its way to a gold medal in Athens. Afterwards, he stayed at his club, Boca Juniors, for a year before heading, not to Europe, but to Brazilian side Corinthians. He’d eventually land at West Ham — yes, West Ham — in 2007 before helping Manchester United, Manchester City and Juventus to league titles.

Why didn’t Tevez move to Europe in 2004? Did he not want to play abroad? Was Europe uninterested in him? His performance at the Olympics showed that he was a rare talent, a natural goalscorer capable of dribbling and poaching. Though he would be eventually overshadowed by the likes of Aguero and Messi, Tevez had it all in 2004.

With France, Argentina, and other countries looking for alternatives to their Barcolas and Yamals, there may be players who, like Tevez, are yet to be claimed by European behemoths. The major absences they leave room for other talent to sneak in, players who are hungry and skilled. They are coming ready to play.