Football at the 1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Olympic football tournament was played as part of the 1968 Summer Olympics. The tournament features 16 men's national teams from five continental confederations. The 16 teams are drawn into four groups of four and each group plays 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 Azteca Stadium on 26 October 1968. This was the first time an Asian team won a medal, Japan claiming bronze.[1]
Tournament details | |
---|---|
Host country | Mexico |
Dates | 13–26 October 1968 |
Teams | 16 (from 5 confederations) |
Venue(s) | 4 (in 4 host cities) |
Final positions | |
Champions | ![]() |
Runners-up | ![]() |
Third place | ![]() |
Fourth place | ![]() |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 32 |
Goals scored | 116 (3.63 per match) |
Top scorer(s) | ![]() |
Qualification
Venues
Mexico City | Puebla | Guadalajara | León | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Estadio Azteca | Estadio Cuauhtémoc | Estadio Jalisco | Estadio León | |
Capacity: 104,000[2] | Capacity: 35,563[3] | Capacity: 31,891[4] | Capacity: 23,609[4] | |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() | |
Medalists
Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
István Básti Antal Dunai Lajos Dunai Ernő Noskó Dezső Novák Károly Fatér László Fazekas István Juhász László Keglovich Lajos Kocsis Iván Menczel László Nagy Miklós Páncsics István Sárközi Lajos Szűcs Zoltán Szarka Miklós Szalai |
Stoyan Yordanov Atanas Gerov Georgi Hristakiev Milko Gaydarski Kiril Ivkov Ivaylo Georgiev Tsvetan Veselinov Evgeni Yanchovski Petar Zhekov Atanas Hristov Asparuh Donev Kiril Stankov Georgi Ivanov Todor Nikolov Yancho Dimitrov Ivan Zafirov Mihail Gyonin Georgi Vasilev |
Kenzo Yokoyama Hiroshi Katayama Masakatsu Miyamoto Yoshitada Yamaguchi Mitsuo Kamata Ryozo Suzuki Kiyoshi Tomizawa Takaji Mori Aritatsu Ogi Eizo Yuguchi Shigeo Yaegashi Teruki Miyamoto Masashi Watanabe Yasuyuki Kuwahara Kunishige Kamamoto Ikuo Matsumoto Ryuichi Sugiyama Masahiro Hamazaki |
Group stage
Group A
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
2 | ![]() |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 4 | |
3 | ![]() |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 2 | |
4 | ![]() |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 2 |
France ![]() | 3–1 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Hallet ![]() Horlaville ![]() Perrigaud ![]() |
Report | Maxim ![]() |
.svg.png.webp)
Guinea ![]() | 3–2 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Ndongo ![]() Bouya ![]() |
Report | Santa ![]() Mosquera ![]() |

France ![]() | 4–1 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Case ![]() Tamboueon ![]() Medina ![]() |
Report | Victorino ![]() |

Group B
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage |
2 | ![]() |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 4 | |
3 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 2 | |
4 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 1 |
Brazil ![]() | 3–3 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Ferretti ![]() Olumodeji ![]() Tião ![]() |
Report | Olayombo ![]() Anieke ![]() |
.svg.png.webp)
Group C
Ghana replaced Morocco, who refused to play against Israel.
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage |
2 | ![]() |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 4 | |
3 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 2 | |
4 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 1 |
Israel ![]() | 5–3 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Spiegel ![]() Feigenbaum ![]() |
Report | Jabir ![]() Amosa ![]() |

Hungary ![]() | 4–0 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Menczel ![]() A. Dunai ![]() Fazekas ![]() Sárközi ![]() |
Report |

Hungary ![]() | 2–2 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
A. Dunai ![]() Menczel ![]() |
Report | Sunday ![]() Sampene ![]() |
.svg.png.webp)
Israel ![]() | 3–1 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Talbi ![]() Spiegler ![]() Bar ![]() |
Report | Martínez ![]() |

El Salvador ![]() | 1–1 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Rodríguez ![]() |
Report | Kofi ![]() |
.svg.png.webp)
Group D
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage |
2 | ![]() |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 4 | |
3 | ![]() |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 3 | |
4 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 19 | −18 | 0 |
Guatemala ![]() | 1–0 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Stokes ![]() |
Report |
Bulgaria ![]() | 7–0 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Gyonin ![]() Zhekov ![]() Mihaylov ![]() Zafirov ![]() Nikodimov ![]() Ivkov ![]() |
Report |

Bulgaria ![]() | 2–2 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Georgiev ![]() Zhekov ![]() |
Report | Jarabinský ![]() Petráš ![]() |

Guatemala ![]() | 4–1 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
N. Melgar ![]() Roldán ![]() López Oliva ![]() |
Report | Udomsilp Sornbutnark ![]() |

Czechoslovakia ![]() | 8–0 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Herbst ![]() Petráš ![]() Stratil ![]() Večerek ![]() Krnáč ![]() |
Report |

Knockout stage
Bracket
Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
20 October – Guadalajara | ||||||||||
![]() | 1 | |||||||||
22 October – Mexico City | ||||||||||
![]() | 0 | |||||||||
![]() | 5 | |||||||||
20 October – Mexico City | ||||||||||
![]() | 0 | |||||||||
![]() | 3 | |||||||||
26 October – Mexico City | ||||||||||
![]() | 1 | |||||||||
![]() | 4 | |||||||||
20 October – Leon | ||||||||||
![]() | 1 | |||||||||
![]() | 1 | |||||||||
22 October – Guadalajara | ||||||||||
![]() | 1 | |||||||||
![]() | 3 | |||||||||
20 October – Puebla | ||||||||||
![]() | 2 | Bronze medal match | ||||||||
![]() | 2 | |||||||||
24 October – Mexico City | ||||||||||
![]() | 0 | |||||||||
![]() | 2 | |||||||||
![]() | 0 | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
Bulgaria progressed after a drawing of lots.
Semi-finals
Mexico ![]() | 2–3 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Morales ![]() Pulido Rodríguez ![]() |
Report | Zhekov ![]() Mihaylov ![]() Veselinov ![]() |
.svg.png.webp)
Gold Medal match
Bulgaria finished the match with only eight players after having three players sent off.[6]
Hungary ![]() | 4–1 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Menczel ![]() A. Dunai ![]() ![]() Juhász ![]() |
Report 1 | Veselinov ![]() |
Team details | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Statistics
Goalscorers
With seven goals, Kunishige Kamamoto of Japan is the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 116 goals were scored by 68 different players, with two of them credited as own goals.
- 7 goals
- 6 goals
- 4 goals
Petar Zhekov
Ladislav Petráš
Lajos Szűcs
Yehoshua Feigenbaum
- 3 goals
Atanas Mihaylov
Charles Tamboueon
Iván Menczel
Pulido Rodríguez
Vicente Pereda
- 2 goals
Fernando Ferretti
Asparuh Nikodimov
Tsvetan Veselinov
Pavel Stratil
Marc-Kanyan Case
Malik Jabir
López Oliva
Nelson Melgar
Camara Fode Bouya
Dezső Novák
Giora Spiegel
Masashi Watanabe
Albino Morales
Kenneth Olayombo
Toni Grande
- 1 goal
Tião
Georgi Hristakiev
Ivan Zafirov
Ivaylo Georgiev
Kiril Ivkov
Mihail Gyonin
Alfonso Jaramillo
Fabio Mosquera
Gustavo Santa
Tamayo Hoyos
Jiří Večerek
Jozef Jarabinský
Mikuláš Krnáč
Miloš Herbst
Juan Ramón Martínez
Mauricio Alonso Rodríguez
Daniel Horlaville
Daniel Perrigaud
Gérard Hallet
Gbadamosi Amosa
Ibrahim Sunday
Osei Kofi
Sammy Stevens Sampene
David Stokes
Jorge Roldán
Camara Mamadou Maxim
Camara Mamadouba Ndongo
István Juhász
István Sárközi
László Fazekas
Mordechai Spiegler
Rachamim Talbi
Shraga Bar
Cesáreo Victorino
Luis Estrada
Peter Anieke
Samuel Okoye
Fernando Ortuño
Juan Fernández Vilela
Udomsilp Sornbutnark
- Own goals
Humberto Medina (playing against France)
Segun Olumodeji (playing against Brazil)
Final ranking
As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
![]() |
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 3 | +15 | 11 | Gold medal |
![]() |
![]() |
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 10 | +6 | 8 | Silver medal |
![]() |
![]() |
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 8 | Bronze medal |
4 | ![]() |
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 6 | Fourth place |
5 | ![]() |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 5 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
6 | ![]() |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 5 | |
7 | ![]() |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 4 | |
8 | ![]() |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 4 | |
9 | ![]() |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 3 | Eliminated in group stage |
10 | ![]() |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 2 | |
11 | ![]() |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 2 | |
12 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 2 | |
13 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 2 | |
14 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 1 | |
15 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 1 | |
16 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 19 | −18 | 0 |
References
- "Football at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- 1968 Summer Olympics official report. Volume 2. Part 1. p. 78. Accessed 4 November 2010. (in English and French)
- 1968 Summer Olympics official report. Volume 2. Part 1. p. 75. Accessed 4 November 2010. (in English and French)
- 1968 Summer Olympics official report. Volume 2. Part 1. p. 79. Accessed 4 November 2010. (in English and French)
- "WorldReferee.com - referee - Augusto Robles Morán - bio". worldreferee.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- Wallechinsky, David (1984). The Complete Book of the Olympics. England: Penguin Books. p. 288. ISBN 0140066322.
External links
