 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Belgium |
| Dates | 28 August – 5 September 1920 |
| Teams | 15 (from 2 confederations) |
| Venue | 4 (in 3 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Belgium (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Spain |
| Third place |  Netherlands |
| Fourth place |  Italy |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 17 |
| Goals scored | 70 (4.12 per match) |
| Attendance | 150,600 (8,859 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Herbert Carlsson(7 goals) |
←1912 1924 → | |
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| Part of a series on |
| Football at the1920 Summer Olympics |
Football was one of the 154 events at the1920 Summer Olympics, held inAntwerp, Belgium. It was the fifth timeassociation football was on the Olympic schedule. The tournament expanded to 15 countries, including a non-European nation (Egypt) for the first time.[1]
As these were the first Olympics after World War I, the football teams representing theCentral Powers (Germany,Austria,Hungary,Bulgaria andTurkey) were not invited. TheEnglish Football Association had also withdrawn fromFIFA, together with the associations of the other UK Home Nations (Scotland,Ireland andWales), after their demands that the federations of Germany, Austria and Hungary be expelled from that organisation were rejected: FIFA nevertheless accepted the entry of a team fromGreat Britain (representing theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland), ruling that countries entering the Olympic Games in other sports should not be excluded from the football tournament.[2]
Britain had won the 1908 and 1912 gold medals, but were beaten by Norway 3–1 in the first round: theNorway national football team thus celebrated one of their iconic victories, alongside the elimination of Nazi Germany at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the 1993 win over England in World Cup qualifying, and the 2–1 defeat of reigning world champions Brazil at the 1998 World Cup.
HostsBelgium won thegold medal, with the final being abandoned in the 39th minute with Belgium leading 2–0 afterCzechoslovakia – who participated in an international competition for the first time – walked off to protest the officiating: the Czechslovaks were subsequently ejected from the competition, and were not awarded the silver medal they would have been entitled had they gone on to lose the final.[1]
As a result of Czechoslovakia's ejection and Belgium having received a first-round bye, the beaten quarter-finalists (Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden) faced each other to determine who would play the Netherlands (who were beaten in their semifinal by Belgium), who were now assured of a medal.
The tournament ended withBelgium winning the gold medal,Spain the silver and theNetherlands the bronze.[3][4][2]
| Antwerp | Antwerp | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Olympisch Stadion | Stadion Broodstraat | ||
| Capacity:35,000 | Capacity:Not known | ||
 | |||
| Ghent | Brussels | ||
| Jules Ottenstadion | Stade Joseph Marien | ||
| Capacity:Not known | Capacity:Not known | ||
 |  | ||
15 teams entered the competition, which was organized on a knockout basis, but Switzerland withdrew on the morning before the first round due to internal dissent: their opponent, France, was awarded a 2–0 victory.
As such, 12 teams entered the first round, with the winners joining France and hostsBelgium, who had a first-round bye, in the quarter-finals.
Norway defeatedGreat Britain in the first round, considered byElo as one of the greatest football upsets of all time.[5]
Czechoslovakia, participating in their first international tournament, made it to the final, beatingKingdom of SCS (who also played their first ever international match in the competition),Norway, andFrance, whileBelgium, after their first-round bye, beatSpain and theNetherlands to qualify for the final.
The final was abandoned in the 39th minute andBelgium were awarded the gold medal afterCzechoslovakia walked off to protest the officiating of theEnglish referee,John Lewis, and his linesmen.[6]
A form of theBergvall System[7] was used to determine the silver and bronze medals: firstly, the beaten quarter-finalists played off, andSpain emerged triumphant, overcomingSweden 2–1 andItaly 2–0.
Under the original format, Spain would have played off against the teams beaten in the main tournament by gold medalistsBelgium, with the winners of these matches playing off for silver and bronze medals. However, Czechoslovakia had been ejected from the competition, and Belgium had received a first-round bye: therefore, the semi-finals were scratched, and Spain advanced to the silver and bronze medal match against theNetherlands, who had been beaten by Belgium in their semi-final. Spain won the match 3–1.
This match was not part of the tournament, but was organized after both teams were eliminated. Some sources erroneously refer to this as an eighth-place match or as part of the silver and bronze medal tournament.
| First round | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Belgium | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Spain | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Spain | 1 | ||||||||||||||
 Denmark | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Belgium | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Netherlands | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Sweden | 9 | ||||||||||||||
 Greece | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Sweden | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Netherlands(a.e.t.) | 5 | ||||||||||||||
 Luxembourg | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Netherlands | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Belgium | 2 | ||||||||||||||
 Czechoslovakia | 0 | ||||||||||||||
 France | 2 | ||||||||||||||
 Switzerland | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| France | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Italy | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Italy | 2 | ||||||||||||||
 Egypt | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| France | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Czechoslovakia | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Czechoslovakia | 7 | ||||||||||||||
 Kingdom of SCS | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Czechoslovakia | 4 | ||||||||||||||
 Norway | 0 | ||||||||||||||
 Great Britain | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Norway | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Czechoslovakia | 7–0 | Kingdom of SCS |
|---|---|---|
Vanik 20',46',79'Janda 34',50',75'Sedláček 43' | Report |
| Netherlands | 3–0 | Luxembourg |
|---|---|---|
| J. Bulder 30' Groosjohan 47',85' | Report |
| France | 2–0 Awarded | Switzerland |
|---|---|---|
Bye:Belgium
| Netherlands | 5–4 (a.e.t.) | Sweden |
|---|---|---|
| Groosjohan 10',57' J. Bulder 44',88' (pen.)De Natris 115' | Report | Karlsson 16',32' Olsson 20'Dahl 72' |
| Czechoslovakia | 4–0 | Norway |
|---|---|---|
| Vanik 8' Janda 17',66',77' | Report |
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The final was highly controversial, and is the only time as of 2024 that an international final has been abandoned:Belgium were awarded the gold medal afterCzechoslovakia walked off the pitch in the 39th minute with Belgium leading 2–0 to protest the officiating after Czechoslovak left-backKarel Steiner was ejected for assaulting Belgian striker Robert Coppée.
The Czechoslovaks were also deeply dissatisfied with the performance of the 65-year-oldEnglish referee,John Lewis, as well as that of the English linesmen,Charles Wreford-Brown andArthur Knight, who had allowed a contentious second Belgian goal byHenri Larnoe in the 30th minute.
Lewis, Wreford-Brown and Knight had officiated the Belgian semi-final victory over the Netherlands two days earlier, a match observed by the Czechoslovaks (it had taken place on the same day and in the same stadium as their own semi-final victory against France).
The Czechoslovaks immediately protested the result of the final,[note 1] but their protest was dismissed, and the Czechoslovak team was immediately ejected from the competition.
The original format was based on a form of theBergvall System: after a knockout tournament between the four teams beaten in the quarter-finals, the winner of that tournament would play off in the semi-finals with the teams beaten in the main tournament by the gold medalists (Belgium), with the winners of these matches playing off for silver and bronze medals.
However, Czechoslovakia had been ejected from the competition, and Belgium had received a first-round bye: therefore, the semi-finals were scratched, and Spain (the winner of the beaten quarter-finalists tournament) advanced to the silver and bronze medal match against the Netherlands (who had been beaten in the semifinals by gold medalists Belgium).
| First round | Second round | Silver and bronze medal match | |||||||||||
| QF | Italy(a.e.t.) | 2 | |||||||||||
| SF | Netherlands | 1 | |||||||||||
| QF | Norway | 1 | |||||||||||
| QF | Italy | 0 | QF | Spain | 3 | ||||||||
| QF | Spain | 2 | |||||||||||
| QF | Spain | 2 | |||||||||||
| QF | Sweden | 1 | |||||||||||
| Spain | 3–1 | Netherlands |
|---|---|---|
| Sesúmaga 7',35' Pichichi 72' | Report | Groosjohan 68' |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Belgium | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 6 | |
 | Spain | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 8 | |
 | Netherlands | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 10 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Italy | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 4 | Eliminated in playoffs |
| 5 | Sweden | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 7 | +7 | 2 | |
| 6 |  France | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 2 | |
| 7 | Norway | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 2 | |
| 8 | Egypt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0 | Eliminated in first round |
| 9 | Denmark | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 | |
| 10 | Great Britain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 0 | |
| 11 | Luxembourg | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 0 | |
| 12 | Kingdom of SCS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 0 | |
| 13 |  Greece | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0 | |
| DSQ | Czechoslovakia | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 3 | +12 | 6 | Ejected from competition |
Herbert Carlsson (Sweden)Antonín Janda (Czechoslovakia)Ber Groosjohan (Netherlands)Robert Coppée (Belgium)Jan Vanik (Czechoslovakia)Félix Sesúmaga (Spain)Otakar Mazal (Czechoslovakia)Jaap Bulder (Netherlands)Albin Dahl (Sweden)Albert Olsson (Sweden)Henri Larnoe (Belgium)Sayed Abaza (Egypt)Jean Boyer (France)Guglielmo Brezzi (Italy)Einar Gundersen (Norway)Mathieu Bragard (Belgium)Louis Van Hege (Belgium)Josef Sedláček (Czechoslovakia)Karel Steiner (Czechoslovakia)Hassan Allouba (Egypt)Hussein Hegazi (Egypt)Zaki Osman (Egypt)Henri Bard (France)Paul Nicolas (France)Fred Nicholas (Great Britain)Emilio Badini (Italy)Adolfo Baloncieri (Italy)Enrico Sardi (Italy)Jan de Natris (Netherlands)Arne Andersen (Norway)Einar Wilhelms (Norway)Domingo Acedo (Spain)Patricio Arabolaza (Spain)Mariano Arrate (Spain)José María Belauste (Spain)Pichichi (Spain)Ragnar Wicksell (Sweden)Artur Dubravčić (Kingdom of SCS)Jovan Ružić (Kingdom of SCS)
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