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.^[1][2]

Football at the 1988 Summer Olympics

Tournament details
Host country	South Korea
Dates	17 September – 1 October 1988
Teams	16 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s)	6 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Soviet Union (2nd title)
Runners-up	Brazil
Third place	West Germany
Fourth place	Italy
Tournament statistics
Matches played	32
Goals scored	95 (2.97 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Romário (7 goals)
← 1984 1992 →

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.^[3]

Venues

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 Stadium Busan Stadium Daegu Stadium Daejeon Stadium Dongdaemun Stadium Gwangju 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

Main article: Football at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads

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)

Match officials

Africa Jean-Fidele Diramba Baba Laouissi Badara Sène Asia Jamal Al-Sharif Choi Gil-Soo Mandi Jassim Shizuo Takada South America Juan Daniel Cardellino Arnaldo Cézar Coelho Jesús Díaz Juan Carlos Loustau Hernán Silva

North and Central America Edgardo Codesal Lennox Sirjuesingh Vincent Mauro Europe Gérard Biguet Keith Hackett Kenny Hope Kurt Röthlisberger Tullio Lanese Michał Listkiewicz Karl-Heinz Tritschler Alexey Spirin Oceania Chris Bambridge

Final tournament

Group stage

Group A

Main article: Football at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Group A

Pos	Team v t e	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

Source: FIFA

17 September 1988

17:00

China	0–3	West Germany
	[Report]	Wuttke 31' Mill 60', 89'

Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan

Attendance: 24,000

Referee: Juan Daniel Cardellino (URU)

17 September 1988

19:00

Sweden	2–2	Tunisia
Thern 44' Hellström 45'	[Report]	Dhiab 16' Maâloul 43' (pen.)

Daegu Civic Stadium, Daegu

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Edgardo Codesal (MEX)

---

19 September 1988

17:00

Tunisia	1–4	West Germany
Maâloul 26' (pen.)	[Report]	Grahammer 4' Fach 50' Mill 55' Wuttke 75' (pen.)

Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan

Attendance: 14,000

Referee: Keith Hackett (GBR)

19 September 1988

19:00

China	0–2	Sweden
	[Report]	Lönn 19' Hellström 42'

Daegu Civic Stadium, Daegu

Attendance: 17,000

Referee: Badara Séne (SEN)

---

21 September 1988

17:00

China	0–0	Tunisia
	[Report]

Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan

Attendance: 17,000

Referee: Lennox Sirjuesingh (TRI)

21 September 1988

19:00

Sweden	2–1	West Germany
Engqvist 64' Lönn 85'	[Report]	Walter 60'

Daegu Civic Stadium, Daegu

Attendance: 17,000

Referee: Kurt Röthlisberger (SUI)

Group B

Main article: Football at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Group B

Pos	Team v t e	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

Source: FIFA

17 September 1988

Italy	5–2	Guatemala
Carnevale 3' Evani 11' Virdis 34' Ferrara 38' Desideri 75'	[Report]	Castañeda 7' Paniagua 79'

Gwangju Mudeung Stadium, Gwangju

17 September 1988

Zambia	2–2	Iraq
Nyirenda 44' K. Bwalya 66'	[Report]	Radhi 36' (pen.) Allawi 71'

Daejeon Hanbat Stadium, Daejeon

---

19 September 1988

Zambia	4–0	Italy
K. Bwalya 40', 55', 90' J. Bwalya 63'	[Report]

Gwangju Mudeung Stadium, Gwangju

19 September 1988

Iraq	3–0	Guatemala
Radhi 57' Jabbar 67' Mazariegos 77' (o.g.)	[Report]

Daejeon Hanbat Stadium, Daejeon

---

21 September 1988

Zambia	4–0	Guatemala
Makinka 53', 85' K. Bwalya 79', 82'	[Report]

Gwangju Mudeung Stadium, Gwangju

21 September 1988

Iraq	0–2	Italy
	[Report]	Rizzitelli 59' Mauro 63'

Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul

Group C

Main article: Football at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Group C

Pos	Team v t e	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

Source: FIFA
(H) Hosts

18 September 1988

South Korea	0–0	Soviet Union
	Report

Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan

18 September 1988

United States	1–1	Argentina
Windischmann 78'	Report	Alfaro 83'

Daegu Civic Stadium, Daegu

---

20 September 1988

South Korea	0–0	United States
	Report

Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan

20 September 1988

Argentina	1–2	Soviet Union
Alfaro 77'	Report	Dobrovolski 7' Mikhailichenko 22'

Daegu Civic Stadium, Daegu

---

22 September 1988

South Korea	1–2	Argentina
Noh Soo-jin 14'	Report	Alfaro 3' Fabbri 73'

Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan

22 September 1988

United States	2–4	Soviet Union
Goulet 65' Doyle 85'	Report	Mikhailichenko 7', 48' Narbekovas 19' Dobrovolski 45'

Daegu Civic Stadium, Daegu

Group D

Main article: Football at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Group D

Pos	Team v t e	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

Source: FIFA

18 September 1988

Australia	1–0	Yugoslavia
Farina 48'	Report

Gwangju Mudeung Stadium, Gwangju

18 September 1988

Brazil	4–0	Nigeria
Edmar 59' Romário 74', 84' Bebeto 86'	Report

Daejeon Hanbat Stadium, Daejeon

---

20 September 1988

Nigeria	1–3	Yugoslavia
Yekini 88'	Report	Stojković 35', 67' Šabanadžović 49'

Daejeon Hanbat Stadium, Daejeon

20 September 1988

Australia	0–3	Brazil
	Report	Romário 20', 57', 61'

Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul

---

22 September 1988

Brazil	2–1	Yugoslavia
André Cruz 25' Bebeto 56'	Report	Šabanadžović 69'

Daejeon Hanbat Stadium, Daejeon

22 September 1988

Australia	1–0	Nigeria
Kosmina 76'	Report

Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul

Knockout stage

Main article: Football at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Knockout stage

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

Quarter-finals

25 September 1988

Sweden	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Italy
Hellström 84'	Report	Virdis 50' Crippa 98'

Daegu Civic Stadium, Daegu

Attendance: 11,000

Referee: Gérard Biguet (FRA)

25 September 1988

Soviet Union	3–0	Australia
Dobrovolski 50', 54' Mikhailichenko 62'	Report

Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan

Attendance: 7,000

Referee: Juan Daniel Cardellino (URU)

25 September 1988

West Germany	4–0	Zambia
Funkel 18' Klinsmann 34', 42', 89'	Report

Gwangju Mudeung Stadium, Gwangju

Attendance: 8,000

Referee: Jesús Díaz (COL)

25 September 1988

Brazil	1–0	Argentina
Geovani 76'	Report

Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul

Attendance: 21,800

Referee: Kurt Röthlisberger (SUI)

Semi-finals

27 September 1988

Soviet Union	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Italy
Dobrovolski 78' Narbekovas 92' Mikhailichenko 106'	Report	Virdis 50' Carnevale 118'

Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Jamal Al-Sharif (SYR)

27 September 1988

Brazil	1–1 (a.e.t.)	West Germany
Romário 79'	Report	Fach 50'
Penalties
João Paulo Luiz Carlos Romário André Cruz	3–2	Janßen Klinsmann Kleppinger Fach Wuttke

Olympic Stadium, Seoul

Attendance: 65,000

Referee: Keith Hackett (GBR)

Bronze medal match

30 September 1988

Italy	0–3	West Germany
	Report	Klinsmann 5' Kleppinger 18' Schreier 68'

Olympic Stadium, Seoul

Attendance: 61,000

Referee: Juan Carlos Loustau (ARG)

Gold medal match

1 October 1988

Soviet Union	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Brazil
Dobrovolski 61' (pen.) Savichev 103'	Report	Romário 30'

Olympic Stadium, Seoul

Attendance: 74,000

Referee: Gérard Biguet (FRA)

Team details

Soviet Union GK 1 Dmitri Kharine RB 17 Viktor Losev (c) CB 18 Sergei Gorlukovich  91' CB 12 Yevgeny Yarovenko LB 2 Gela Ketashvili  42' CM 15 Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko CM 7 Yevgeni Kuznetsov RW 14 Volodymyr Tatarchuk  78'  110' AM 20 Arminas Narbekovas  46' LW 10 Igor Dobrovolski CF 11 Volodymyr Lyutyi  115' Substitutions: FW 19 Yury Savichev  46' DF 3 Igor Sklyarov  115' Manager: Anatoliy Byshovets Brazil GK 1 Cláudio Taffarel RB 14 Luiz Carlos  72' CB 13 André Cruz (c) CB 15 Aloísio  115' LB 2 Jorginho DM 16 Milton DM 19 Andrade AM 10 Careca II  42' AM 17 Neto  72' CF 20 Bebeto  75' CF 11 Romário Substitutions: FW 9 Edmar  118'  72' FW 18 João 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 Yarovenko Alexei 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 Winck Ricardo 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 Wuttke Oliver 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

Source: ^[4]
(H) Hosts

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)