| Date | 24 July – 8 August 1992 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Estadio del FC Barcelona, Barcelona / Estadio Luis Casanova, Valencia / Estadio de La Romareda, Zaragoza / Estadio de la Nova Creu Alta, Sabadell / Estadio de Sarriá, Barcelona | |
| Participants | 272 from 16 countries | |
| Format | Round-robin pools advanced teams to single-elimination tournament of 8 teams. | |
While they were automatically qualified for the tournament as the host nation, Spain nevertheless entered the qualification tournament, finishing second behind Czechoslovakia in their group. But the Spaniards had greatly improved by the time of the Olympics, and they cruised through the first five matches without conceding a single goal. Another impressive team was Poland, which trounced Australia in the semi-finals 6-1. The final match was played in the famous Camp Nou, home to FC Barcelona. 95,000 fans witnessed the final, in which Poland opened the score. Spain then moved ahead, only to see Poland tie the game again after 76 minutes. With little over a minute left to play, Kiko kicked in the winner from a blocked shot. Several of the Spanish players would later also play for their national team, including Luis Enrique (62 caps), Abelardo (54) and Guardiola (47). Ghana won the match for bronze to become the first African team to win an Olympic football medal. Man of the match was goalkeeper Dossey, who saved a penalty kick.
This was the first Olympic football tournament that allowed players to compete who had played at the FIFA World Cup, although the Olympic tournament was now limited only to players under 23-years-old, with a few exceptions. It was also the first major tournament with the new back-pass rule that limited goalkeepers from handling the ball with their hands if they received a back-pass from a teammate. Also Barcelona 1992 was the last Olympics at which only men competed, as women’s football was added to the Olympic Programme for Atlanta 1996.
Silver medalists Poland narrowly qualified for the Olympic Tournament via the 1992 UEFA Under-21 Championship. The semi-finalists in that event were supposed to qualify but that included Scotland, which does not compete at the Olympic Games as an independent nation. Among the losing quarter-finalists, Poland bested the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, and Germany based on a special coefficient calculated from points earned in the group stage and the quarter-finals, divided by the number of games played.
| Date | 24 – 30 July 1992 |
|---|
| Pos | Team | NOC | Wins | Ties | Losses | Points | Goals | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7-2 | |||
| 2 | Italy | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3-4 | |||
| 3 | United States | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6-5 | |||
| 4 | Kuwait | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1-6 |
| Match | Date/Time | Team | NOC | Result | Team | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 24 Jul 18:00 | Italy | 2 – 1 | United States | |||
| Match #2 | 24 Jul 20:00 | Poland | 2 – 0 | Kuwait | |||
| Match #3 | 27 Jul 19:00 | United States | 3 – 1 | Kuwait | |||
| Match #4 | 27 Jul 21:00 | Poland | 3 – 0 | Italy | |||
| Match #5 | 29 Jul 19:00 | Poland | 2 – 2 | United States | |||
| Match #6 | 29 Jul 21:00 | Italy | 1 – 0 | Kuwait |
| Pos | Team | NOC | Wins | Ties | Losses | Points | Goals | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8-0 | |||
| 2 | Qatar | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2-3 | |||
| 3 | Egypt | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4-6 | |||
| 4 | Colombia | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4-9 |
| Match | Date/Time | Team | NOC | Result | Team | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 24 Jul 20:00 | Spain | 4 – 0 | Colombia | |||
| Match #2 | 24 Jul 20:00 | Qatar | 1 – 0 | Egypt | |||
| Match #3 | 27 Jul 19:00 | Colombia | 1 – 1 | Qatar | |||
| Match #4 | 27 Jul 21:00 | Spain | 2 – 0 | Egypt | |||
| Match #5 | 29 Jul 19:00 | Egypt | 4 – 3 | Colombia | |||
| Match #6 | 29 Jul 21:00 | Spain | 2 – 0 | Qatar |
| Pos | Team | NOC | Wins | Ties | Losses | Points | Goals | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sweden | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5-1 | |||
| 2 | Paraguay | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3-1 | |||
| 3 | Republic of Korea | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2-2 | |||
| 4 | Morocco | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2-8 |
| Match | Date/Time | Team | NOC | Result | Team | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 26 Jul 21:00 | Paraguay | 0 – 0 | Sweden | |||
| Match #2 | 26 Jul 21:00 | Republic of Korea | 1 – 1 | Morocco | |||
| Match #3 | 28 Jul 19:00 | Sweden | 4 – 0 | Morocco | |||
| Match #4 | 28 Jul 21:00 | Republic of Korea | 0 – 0 | Paraguay | |||
| Match #5 | 30 Jul 21:00 | Republic of Korea | 1 – 1 | Sweden | |||
| Match #6 | 30 Jul 21:00 | Paraguay | 3 – 1 | Morocco |
| Pos | Team | NOC | Wins | Ties | Losses | Points | Goals | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ghana | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4-2 | |||
| 2 | Australia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5-4 | |||
| 3 | Mexico | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3-3 | |||
| 4 | Denmark | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1-4 |
| Match | Date/Time | Team | NOC | Result | Team | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 26 Jul 19:00 | Denmark | 1 – 1 | Mexico | |||
| Match #2 | 26 Jul 19:00 | Ghana | 3 – 1 | Australia | |||
| Match #3 | 28 Jul 19:00 | Denmark | 0 – 0 | Ghana | |||
| Match #4 | 28 Jul 21:00 | Australia | 1 – 1 | Mexico | |||
| Match #5 | 30 Jul 19:00 | Australia | 3 – 0 | Denmark | |||
| Match #6 | 30 Jul 19:00 | Ghana | 1 – 1 | Mexico |
| Date | 1 – 2 August 1992 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 01 Aug 19:00 | Spain | 1 – 0 | Italy | |||
| Match #2 | 01 Aug 21:30 | Poland | 2 – 0 | Qatar | |||
| Match #3 | 02 Aug 19:00 | Ghana 1 | 4 – 2 | Paraguay | AET | ||
| Match #4 | 02 Aug 21:30 | Australia | 2 – 1 | Sweden |
| Date | 5 August 1992 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 05 Aug 19:00 | Poland | 6 – 1 | Australia | |||
| Match #2 | 05 Aug 21:30 | Spain | 2 – 0 | Ghana |
| Date | 7 – 8 August 1992 |
|---|---|
| Format | Medal round. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 1/2 | 08 Aug 20:00 | Spain | 3 – 2 | Poland | |||
| Match 3/4 | 07 Aug 20:00 | Ghana | 1 – 0 | Australia |