Football was contested in a single-elimination tournament in which 17 teams competed, with Estonia withdrawing. Uruguay was the defending champion and repeated as gold medalist by defeating Argentina. In the final, their first match resulted in a 1-1 tie, but Uruguay won the replay 2-1. The 1928 football tournament was contested at two venues, the main Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam and the Amsterdamsche Stadion. The Amsterdamsche Stadion was built in 1924 and was also called the Harry Elte Stadion after the architect who had designed it.
Football was on the Olympic Program at every Olympics from 1900-28, but it would not be on the Olympic Program at the 1932 Olympics. In February 1928 FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) voted to contest a World Cup competition, open to all players, beginning in 1930. FIFA was no longer pleased that the IOC controlled Olympic football, and that the amateur rules for the Olympics prevented many of the best football players from competing. Due to the dispute between the IOC and FIFA over Olympic eligibility, with FIFA playing hardball as they tried to establish the World Cup as the premier football tournament, football would not be contested at the 1932 Olympics.
URU
ARG
ITA