# Football at the 1988 Summer Olympics

An association football tournament was played as part of the 1988 Summer Olympics in South Korea, featuring 16 men's national teams from six continental confederations. The teams were drawn into four groups of four with each group playing 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 the Seoul Olympic Stadium on 1 October 1988.
Before the final match, the Soviet team relocated from the Olympic Village to a Soviet steamship stationed nearby. After winning the gold medal, each player from the Soviet team received 15 thousand dollars from the Soviet government.

## Venues

| Seoul | Seoul | Busan |
| Olympic Stadium | Dongdaemun Stadium | Busan Stadium |
| Capacity: 69,950 | Capacity: 26,383 | Capacity: 30,000 |
| Daegu | Daejeon | Gwangju |
| Daegu Stadium | Daejeon Stadium | Gwangju Stadium |
| Capacity: 23,278 | Capacity: 30,000 | Capacity: 30,000 |
| Olympic StadiumBusan StadiumDaegu StadiumDaejeon StadiumDongdaemun StadiumGwangju Stadium |||

## Qualification

The following 16 teams qualified for the 1988 Olympics football tournament:
| Means of qualification | Berths | Qualified |
| Host nation | 1 | South Korea |
| AFC Preliminary Competition | 2 | China Iraq |
| CAF Preliminary Competition | 3 | Nigeria Tunisia Zambia |
| CONCACAF Preliminary Competition | 2 | Guatemala United States |
| 1987 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament | 2 | Brazil (winner) Argentina (runner-up) |
| OFC Preliminary Competition | 1 | Australia |
| UEFA Preliminary Competition | 5 | Italy Sweden Soviet Union West Germany Yugoslavia |
| Total | 16 | |

## Participating nations

A total of 314 footballers from 16 participating nations were called up to the Games, with 268 having played in at least one match. Tunisia used the most players of any team throughout their run with 19 out of 20, while China only utilised 14 of their 18-man list.
* Argentina (16/19 players)
* Australia (16/20 players)
* Brazil (16/20 players)
* China (14/18 players)
* Guatemala (17/19 players)
* Iraq (16/20 players)
* Italy (18/20 players)
* South Korea (16/20 players)
* Nigeria (17/20 players)
* Sweden (17/20 players)
* Tunisia (19/20 players)
* United States (16/20 players)
* Soviet Union (18/20 players)
* West Germany (18/20 players)
* Yugoslavia (16/18 players)
* Zambia (18/20 players)

## Final tournament
### Group stage
#### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Sweden | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 5 |
| 2 | West Germany | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 4 |
| 3 | Tunisia | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 2 |
| 4 | China | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 1 |

#### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Zambia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 5 |
| 2 | Italy | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 4 |
| 3 | Iraq | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 3 |
| 4 | Guatemala | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | −10 | 0 |

#### Group C

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Soviet Union | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 5 |
| 2 | Argentina | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | South Korea (H) | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 |
| 4 | United States | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 2 |

#### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Brazil | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 6 |
| 2 | Australia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 4 |
| 3 | Yugoslavia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Nigeria | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0 |

### Knockout stage

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Gold medal match | Gold medal match |
| 25 September – Daegu | 25 September – Daegu | | | |
| Sweden | 1 | | | |
| Sweden | 1 | 27 September – Busan | 27 September – Busan | | |
| Italy (a.e.t.) | 2 | 27 September – Busan | 27 September – Busan | |
| Italy (a.e.t.) | 2 | Italy | 2 | |
| 25 September – Busan | 25 September – Busan | | Italy | 2 | |
| 25 September – Busan | 25 September – Busan | Soviet Union (a.e.t.) | 3 | |
| Soviet Union | 3 | Soviet Union (a.e.t.) | 3 | |
| Soviet Union | 3 | | | | 1 October – Seoul | 1 October – Seoul |
| Australia | 0 | | | | 1 October – Seoul | 1 October – Seoul |
| Australia | 0 | | | | Soviet Union (a.e.t.) | 2 |
| 25 September – Gwangju | 25 September – Gwangju | | | | | Soviet Union (a.e.t.) | 2 |
| 25 September – Gwangju | 25 September – Gwangju | | | | Brazil | 1 |
| Zambia | 0 | | | | Brazil | 1 |
| Zambia | 0 | 27 September – Seoul | 27 September – Seoul | | | |
| West Germany | 4 | 27 September – Seoul | 27 September – Seoul | | | |
| West Germany | 4 | West Germany | 1 (2) | | | |
| 25 September – Seoul | 25 September – Seoul | | West Germany | 1 (2) | | | |
| 25 September – Seoul | 25 September – Seoul | Brazil (a.e.t.) | 1 (3) | | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match |
| Brazil | 1 | Brazil (a.e.t.) | 1 (3) | | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match |
| Brazil | 1 | | | | 30 September – Seoul | 30 September – Seoul |
| Argentina | 0 | | | | 30 September – Seoul | 30 September – Seoul |
| Argentina | 0 | | | | Italy | 0 |
| | | | | | West Germany | 3 |

### Gold medal match

Team details :
Soviet Union
GK1Dmitri Kharine
RB17Viktor Losev (c)
CB18Sergei Gorlukovich 91'
CB12Yevgeny Yarovenko
LB2Gela Ketashvili 42'
CM15Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko
CM7Yevgeni Kuznetsov
RW10Igor Dobrovolski
AM20Arminas Narbekovas 46'
LW14Volodymyr Tatarchuk 78'  110'
CF11Volodymyr Lyutyi 115'
Substitutions:
FW19Yury Savichev 46'
DF3Igor Sklyarov 115'
Manager:
Anatoliy Byshovets
Brazil
GK1Cláudio Taffarel
RB14Luiz Carlos 72'
CB13André Cruz (c)
CB15Aloísio 115'
LB2Jorginho
DM16Milton
DM19Andrade
AM10Careca II 42'
AM17Neto 72'
CF20Bebeto 75'
CF11Romário
Substitutions:
FW9Edmar 118' 72'
FW18João Paulo 75'
Manager:
Carlos Alberto Silva :

## Medal summary

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Soviet Union (URS) Aleksandr Borodyuk Oleksiy Cherednyk Igor Dobrovolski Sergei Fokin Sergei Gorlukovich Arvydas Janonis Gela Ketashvili Dmitri Kharine Yevgeni Kuznetsov Viktor Losev Volodymyr Lyutyi Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko Arminas Narbekovas Igor Ponomaryov Yury Savichev Igor Sklyarov Vladimir Tatarchuk Yevgeny YarovenkoAlexei Prudnikov Vadym Tyshchenko | Brazil (BRA) Ademir Aloísio Andrade Batista Bebeto Careca André Cruz Edmar Geovani João Paulo Jorginho Milton Neto Romário Cláudio Taffarel Luiz Carlos WinckRicardo Gomes Mazinho Valdo Filho Zé Carlos | West Germany (FRG) Rudolf Bommer Holger Fach Wolfgang Funkel Armin Görtz Roland Grahammer Thomas Häßler Thomas Hörster Olaf Janßen Uwe Kamps Gerhard Kleppinger Jürgen Klinsmann Frank Mill Karl-Heinz Riedle Christian Schreier Michael Schulz Ralf Sievers Fritz Walter Wolfram WuttkeOliver Reck Gunnar Sauer |

## Final rankings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Soviet Union (URS) | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 11 |
| 2 | Brazil (BRA) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 9 |
| 3 | West Germany (FRG) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 4 | +12 | 9 |
| 4 | Italy (ITA) | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 13 | −2 | 6 |
| 5 | Zambia (ZAM) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 5 |
| 6 | Sweden (SWE) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 5 |
| 7 | Australia (AUS) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 4 |
| 8 | Argentina (ARG) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 |
| 9 | Iraq (IRQ) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 3 |
| 10 | Yugoslavia (YUG) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | South Korea (KOR) (H) | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 |
| 12 | United States (USA) | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 2 |
| 13 | Tunisia (TUN) | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 2 |
| 14 | China (CHN) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 1 |
| 15 | Nigeria (NGR) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0 |
| 16 | Guatemala (GUA) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | −10 | 0 |
Note: The players above the line played at least one game in this tournament, the players below the line were only squad members. Nevertheless, the International Olympic Committee medal database credits them all as medalists.

## Goalscorers

With seven goals, Romário of Brazil was the top scorer. In total, 95 goals were scored by 53 different players, with one of them credited as an own goal.

### 7 goals

* Romário

### 6 goals

* Igor Dobrovolski
* Kalusha Bwalya

### 5 goals

* Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko

### 4 goals

* Jürgen Klinsmann

### 3 goals

* Carlos Alfaro
* Pietro Paolo Virdis
* Jan Hellström
* Frank Mill

### 2 goals

* Bebeto
* Ahmed Radhi
* Andrea Carnevale
* Arminas Narbekovas
* Peter Lönn
* Nabil Maâloul
* Holger Fach
* Wolfram Wuttke
* Dragan Stojković
* Refik Šabanadžović
* Derby Makinka

### 1 goal

* Néstor Fabbri
* Frank Farina
* John Kosmina
* André Cruz
* Edmar
* Geovani
* Adán Paniagua
* Carlos Castañeda
* Karim Allawi
* Mudhafar Jabbar
* Alberigo Evani
* Ciro Ferrara
* Massimo Crippa
* Massimo Mauro
* Ruggiero Rizzitelli
* Stefano Desideri
* Rashidi Yekini
* Yury Savichev
* Noh Soo-jin
* Jonas Thern
* Leif Engqvist
* Tarak Dhiab
* Brent Goulet
* John Doyle
* Mike Windischmann
* Christian Schreier
* Fritz Walter
* Gerhard Kleppinger
* Roland Grahammer
* Wolfgang Funkel
* Jonson Bwalya
* Stone Nyirenda

### Own goal

* Rocael Mazariegos (playing against Iraq)