Football is the most popular sport in the world. It was included in the program of all Olympic Games, with the exception of the first Olympics, held in 1896, as well as the 1932 Games. Since 1996, women's football competitions have been held at the Olympics.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Team Great Britain dominated the Olympic Games. This country won gold medals in 1900, 1908 and 1912. At the same time, although professional athletes were officially prohibited from competing at the Olympics, Great Britain was represented at the Games by the so-called amateur England team, a number of whose players played for professional clubs. Since 1960, the UK has not taken part in the Olympic football tournament due to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland having formed their own football federations and competing as separate countries.

In 1932, football was excluded from the Olympic Games program. The official reason for this was the unpopularity of football in the United States (the 1932 Olympics took place in Los Angeles). However, it is believed that the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), which began hosting the World Cup in 1930, simply did not want the new competition to be “overshadowed” by the Olympics.

In 1936 football returned to Olympic program. However, as players in most countries became professionals, the level of football at the Olympic Games decreased, and the Olympics were won mainly by teams from Eastern Europe, where football was officially considered amateur.

Thus, in 1952, 1964 and 1968, the Hungarian team became the champion of the Olympic Games. In 1956 the Olympics were won by the USSR team, in 1960 by Yugoslavia, in 1972 by Poland, in 1976 by the GDR, and in 1980 by Czechoslovakia. From 1948 to 1980, 23 of the 27 sets of Olympic medals went to teams from Eastern Europe. The exceptions were Sweden (gold at the 1948 Games and bronze in 1952), Denmark (second medalist at the 1960 Olympics) and Japan ( bronze medalist 1968 Games).

Since 1984 International Olympic Committee allowed professional football players to participate in the Olympics, however, by agreement with FIFA, permission applied only to those players from national teams of European and South American countries who had not previously taken part in the World Championships. In 1984, the championship title went to the French team, and in 1988, the USSR team led by Anatoly Byshovets won in Seoul.

Modern rules for the participation of football players in the Olympic Games were introduced in 1992. Football players no older than 23 years of age are allowed to participate in the Olympics, and each team can enter three players whose age exceeds the specified limit.

The new format turned out to be convenient for football players from Africa. Spain's victory at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 was the last success of the European team at the Games to date. Nigeria won in 1996 and Cameroon in 2000. The current Olympic champion is the Argentina national team. In the final of the 2004 Athens Olympics, the Argentines beat Paraguay.

It is interesting that the Olympic football tournament has never been won by the Brazilian national team, which is a five-time world champion, and the Italians, who won the world championship four times, won Olympic gold only once - in 1936.

At the Beijing Olympics, 16 teams will compete for medals among men: four each from Europe and Asia, three from Africa, two each from Northern and South America, one from Oceania. The teams are divided into four groups. The two best teams from each group will advance to the quarter finals and compete for awards using a playoff system.

The main contenders for victory in this year's Olympic football tournament are the national teams of Brazil and Argentina. The current Olympic champions include world football stars Lionel Messi from Barcelona, ​​Sergio Aguero from Atlético Madrid and Juan Riquelme from Boca Juniors. The world football star, Milan newcomer Ronaldinho, will take part in the Brazilian national team at the Olympics.

Traditionally strong on last Olympics Africa will be represented by the teams of Cameroon, Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire. Among the European teams, it is worth noting the teams of Italy and the Netherlands.

Women's football The national tournament has been held since 1996. In 1996 and 2004, the championship title went to the US team, and in 2000 the Americans lost to the Norwegian team in the final. Along with these teams, the teams from Sweden, Brazil, China and Germany are really vying for the championship title in Beijing. It was the Germans who won last championship peace.

At the 2008 Olympics, 12 teams are taking part in the women's football tournament, divided into three groups. Two teams from each group, as well as two teams from third place, will advance to the quarter finals. After this, the fight for medals will follow a knockout system.

The Russian national team does not take part in the Olympic football tournament.

In Paris . Three clubs from France, Belgium and Great Britain played two games. First, the French Union France de Sports Athletic beat the Free French-speaking University of Brussels team from Belgium with a score of 6:2 and then met with the British Upton Park. The British defeated the French 4:0 and were proclaimed the first Olympic champions. France became the second team, Belgium third.

Three teams also played football at the next Olympic Games in 1904 in St. Louis. The tournament was attended by the Canadian club "Galt" and two American teams: "St. Rose Parish" and the high school team of Christian Brothers College. The Canadians beat both American teams to become champions, while the United States received silver and bronze medals.

Professional players have been allowed to compete since the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, but only those from Asia, Africa, the CONCACAF zone and Oceania. The ban was completely lifted in 1992, and at the same time a partial age limit was introduced for players - they must be no older than 23 years. Since 1996, each team can have three players of any age, the rest must be no older than 23 years old.

The Olympic tournament that fans are looking forward to perhaps the most is football. 16 men's and 12 women's teams will take part in the competition. There will be so many games that seven football arenas will be used for the tournaments. Football games start 3 days before official opening Olympics.

Football game participants

28 national football teams will come to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Qualification for the competition took place from the end of 2014 until almost mid-2016. Based on the results, all teams were selected and divided into groups.

Men's team participants are divided into the following groups

Group A:

• Brazil;
• Iraq;
• Denmark.

• Sweden;
• Colombia;
• Nigeria;
• Japan.

• Fiji;
• The Republic of Korea;
• Mexico;
• Germany.

• Honduras;
• Algeria;
• Portugal;
• Argentina.

Women's groups

• Brazil;
• China;
• Sweden;

• Canada;
• Australia;
• Zimbabwe;
• Germany.

• New Zealand;
• France;
• Colombia.

The Russian team was unable to qualify and did not qualify for the Olympics, neither men's nor women's team. Qualifying tournament It’s different for each region, usually it’s a continental championship.

The course of the competition will be as follows. First will take place group round, each team will play everyone else in their group. Then, from each group, the two teams that managed to score the most points advance to the quarterfinals. The playoff principle already applies there: the losers are eliminated, but can compete for 3rd place.

After the end of each tournament, the winning team will be awarded.

Football competition calendar

Olympic Games for those involved in football, will begin on August 3, they will be opened by women's teams, and will end on August 20, with the end of the men's tournament. The schedule is as follows.

• Group round: August 3, 6, 9. Every day there are 6 matches.
• Quarterfinals: August 12. 4 matches.
• Semi-final: August 16. 2 games.
• Final: August 19. Match for 3rd place, award ceremony for all medals.

• Group round: August 4, 7, 10 (8 matches each day).
• Quarterfinals: August 13. 4 matches.
• Semi-final: August 17. 2 matches.

The football tournament will be held in 5 cities, at 7 venues. Both finals will take place at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio.

Football fans wait until the Olympics begin to watch every game. This sport has not always been so popular, but it has been present at the Olympics since 1900. Since then, there has only been one Summer Olympics that did not feature football - 1932, Los Angeles. But the women's tournament was included in the program in 1996.

Football is played by two teams, each with 11 people, including the goalkeeper. Each team tries to score a goal. You can hit the ball with your feet, head, and sometimes with your body. It is prohibited to touch the ball with your hands; only the goalkeeper can do this if the ball is close to the goal.

If the end of the Summer Olympic Football Games is a draw, the teams are given overtime. If overtime is spent, but the winner is still undecided, then a penalty shootout is awarded.

Spanish singer Julio Iglesias was a goalkeeper for Real Madrid. In 1963, he was in a car accident and while he was in the hospital, he mastered the guitar and decided to retrain as a musician. They also played football professionally: the writer Albert Camus defended the gates of the Algerian national team in the 1920s, Pope John Paul II was the goalkeeper of the Wadowice team in Poland, and the famous tenor of the Bolshoi Theater, People's Artist of the USSR Zurab Sotkilava was the goalkeeper of Dynamo Tbilisi.

OLYMPIC GAMES

Football became an Olympic sport at the 1900 Games in Paris. The Olympic football tournament was not held until 1932 in Los Angeles. Women's football has become Olympic form sports in 1996 in Atlanta.

RUSSIA

The most titled Soviet football player is goalkeeper Lev Yashin - the best goalkeeper in world football in the entire existence of this sport. Lev Yashin - Olympic champion (1956), champion of the USSR (1954 - 1955, 1957, 1959, 1963). Soviet football players won the Olympic Games twice: in 1956 and 1988.

The match Iraq - Denmark started the men's football tournament of the 2016 Olympics. Life explains why the world's most popular sport plays the role of the "ugly duckling" at the Games.

Football in Rio began before the official opening of the Olympics, and there was no excitement around it. Of course, the hosts of the tournament, the Brazilians, are destined for the role of headliner. But this is only because pentacampeons have never in history become winners of the Games. A very interesting statistical fact. That's all.

However, how many of you now remember the absence of Russian football players at the Games? That's it. The football tournament will remain somewhere in the background for most Olympic spectators.

However, first things first.

At the Olympics, teams made up of players no older than 23 years old compete. This rule was created by the IOC specifically to young football players received actual gaming practice high level. Moreover, since 1996, the regulations have been adjusted, and now each team has the right to enter three football players over 23 years of age for the Games.

During Soviet times, our Olympic team won gold twice. The first time this happened was in 1956, then Lev Yashin himself was in goal, the team included Igor Netto, Nikita Simonyan, Eduard Streltsov, Anatoly Ilyin and other legends. And the final match against Yugoslavia forever entered the golden fund of domestic sports.

There is another reason for nostalgia. At the Games in 1988, our team beat the “ball wizards” in the finals - the very same Brazilians who rule Olympic football this year. They also remember that success in Seoul. The team led by Anatoly Byshovets defeated the young but already stellar Bebeto, Romario, Taffarel with a score of 2:1... And experienced fans do not need to explain once again who Yuri Savichev is. Well, yes, the same one who scored the winning goal against Brazil.

Nowadays, players of the Russian youth team are fighting in vain to get into the Games. The guys, led by Nikolai Pisarev, tried to make it to Rio in 2014. That team included Denis Davydov, who now plays for Spartak-2, Pavel Mogilevets from Rostov, Serder Serderov, who left for the Bulgarian Slavia, railway worker Alexey Miranchuk...

To be included in the list of lucky ones, you had to reach the playoffs of the Youth European Championship 2016. Alas, our team took only second place in the qualifying group with a sufficient number of points, but an unsatisfactory difference in goals scored and goals conceded.

Our guys were sincerely sad and said that they really wanted to compete at the Olympics. It's possible. After all, young guys who have not yet been spoiled by huge contracts and realities Russian football, there must be a desire to play.

"What emotions? Failure of hopes"

But Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko then said that there was no need to be sad. So, maybe you really don’t really want to? After all, our team hasn’t been to the Games for 28 years...

- Of course, it’s a shame that we’re in Once again were left without the Games, but we must understand that in football the main tournament is the World Cup. It is followed in importance by the European Championship. Therefore, the world does not attach much importance to qualifying for the Games or winning a football tournament. Olympic tournament, where young players play, Vitaly Mutko said two years ago.

It turns out that the gold won in synchronized swimming or rowing, is valued more than olympic medal highest quality hanging from the neck Russian football player. Which is very sad, because the fans would be happy if our team played at the Olympics.

However, everyone really goes crazy about only two football tournaments- World Championships and European Championships. Everything else interests the audience to a lesser extent.

And FIFA doesn’t attach much importance to the Games. Although before 1930 everything was not like that. And it was Olympic football that was rated highest then.

But how much time has passed since then? 86 years...