The men’s Olympic soccer tournament gets underway a day before the games’ opening ceremony, and all eyes are on one team. The hosts, Brazil, have never won an Olympic gold medal in soccer. While most countries see the Olympics as an afterthought in men’s soccer, this is Brazil’s great national shame. This is why Neymar was rested in the Copa America this summer, and he’s by far the biggest star at the Olympics.
2016 Olympic soccer: Bracket, schedule and scores for men’s competition
Rarely has a team tournament been so much about one player. All the pressure is on Neymar to deliver a gold medal for Brazil.
Koji Watanabe/Getty Images
This tournament can get bizarre, though, with traditional powers rarely dominating. Mexico captured the last Olympic gold medal, upsetting Brazil in the final. Argentina won the two gold medals before that, but faced Nigeria and Paraguay in those finals. Before that, Cameroon and Nigeria won Olympic gold.
Because the men’s Olympic tournament is an Under-23 tournament with three over-age players allowed, two distinct strategies emerge. One is to actually attempt to win the tournament by bringing lots of experienced 22-to-23-year-olds while using over-age slots on superstars. Some other teams just send their most talented young players to get them some experience, even if they’re too young to have a shot to deliver a medal.
Bracket
Schedule (all times ET)
TV listings for all games can be found at Live Soccer TV. All games can be streamed online in the United States at NBC Sports Live Extra.
Thursday, August 4
Sunday, August 7
Fiji 1-5 Mexico -- Recap
Honduras 1-2 Portugal -- Recap
Germany 3-3 South Korea -- Recap
Argentina 2-1 Algeria -- Recap
Sweden 0-1 Nigeria
Denmark 1-0 South Africa
Japan 2-2 Colombia
Brazil 0-0 Iraq -- Recap
Wednesday, August 10
Algeria 1-1 Portugal -- Recap; Portugal advances in first place
Argentina 1-1 Honduras -- Recap; Honduras advances in second place
Germany 10-0 Fiji -- Recap; Germany advances in second place
South Korea 1-0 Mexico -- Recap; South Korea advances in first place
Japan 1-0 Sweden
Colombia 2-0 Nigeria -- Nigeria advances in first place, Colombia advances in second place
Denmark 0-4 Brazil -- Brazil advances in first place, Denmark advances in second place
South Africa 1-1 Iraq
Saturday, August 13
Portugal 0-4 Germany -- Recap
Nigeria 2-0 Denmark -- Recap
South Korea 0-1 Honduras -- Recap
Brazil 2-0 Colombia -- Recap
Wednesday, August 17
Saturday, August 20
Bronze medal match: Honduras 3-2 Nigeria -- Recap
Gold medal match: Germany 1-1 (4-5 PKs) Brazil -- Recap
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