The Olympic Games has been a showcase of the best athletes from all corners of the globe since its modern foundation in 1896, with 32 sports on show at the Paris 2024 Games this summer. One that gets overlooked by many, however, is the world’s most popular: football.
Wedged between the hangover of both the Copa America & The European Championships and the start of the domestic season, much of the northern hemisphere could be forgiven for simply not caring about the 16 nations competing for the gold medal. Unlike the FIFA World Cup, which grants a disproportionate share of places to stronger confederations, the Olympics is spread more democratically with Europe given the same number of qualification places as Africa and Asia. Add in the under-23 age limit (with three overage slots permitted), and not only the teams but the players involved can look unusual to those fed a gourmet diet from football’s top table.
However, history has shown us that these national sides can offer a direct pathway to the elite level. For example, no fewer than four members of Brazil’s 2020 Olympics gold medal squad subsequently went on to sign for Premier League clubs.
While Latin Americans are hyped up for the tournament, Europeans have a curiously disaffected relationship with football within the Olympic sphere. “I’d say the European relationship with the Olympics is more like it is still from amateur times, and it’s not like a competition they really aim to win,” explained Brazilian-born Thomas Farines, who has coached in Greece, France and the UK.
“We in South America feel it’s very important; if you look at Uruguay’s jersey, they have two stars for winning the World Cups, and two stars for winning the gold medals. Argentina and Brazil didn’t do this, because it was more recent, but it is something they are very proud of. We always aim to win gold, even if we haven’t won it that often.
Perhaps an exhaustive menu of seemingly never-ending football simply drains any appetite for yet another course, even if the Olympics offers both a short, sharp burst full of unique flavours as Uzbekistan, the Dominican Republic, New Zealand and Iraq simmer alongside France, Spain and Argentina.
Surely it is too simplistic and stereotypical to simply explain away the Latin American passion for Olympics football by pointing to a more dramatic character, though?
“As football is very much the main sport, being able to compete in the Olympic Games is an honour for any player, just like it is now for Argentina and Paraguay,” explains Paraguayan-American ESPN associate producer Roberto Rojas, who has travelled to Paris for the games. “South American countries typically do want to show off against the world in other sports so it feels as if football is their saving grace.”
Flamboyance and flair is after all at the heart of entertainment, and sport is, ultimately, an entertainment product. Capturing the imagination, creating moments to hold dear forever, are as important – in theory – as pure tangible success. Combine the two and you hit the jackpot.
Take the France 1984 vintage. Michel Platini, Alain Giresse and Jean Tigana first conquered Europe, before Henri Michel guided their Olympic counterparts to gold past a Brazilian team featuring eventual World Cup winning captain Dunga. It wasn’t until the 2000 Olympics in Sydney when the achievement was matched, this time by AFCON winners Cameroon with a team featuring the likes of Geremi, Lauren and a then little-known 18-year-old forward named Samuel Eto’o.
Twenty-four years later and there are three teams competing to share this rare achievement – European champions Spain, Oceania champions New Zealand, and South American champions Argentina – with the latter attempting to become the first ever to hold the World Cup, their respective continental competition and Olympic gold.
This year’s football tournament has certainly opened with a bang, after crowd trouble marred the Argentina vs Morocco fixture, delaying the end until an Argentina equaliser was ruled out by VAR. It should take little convincing to see that the dramatic defeat hurt the Julian Alvarez-led South Americans, but with world and continental domination already complete, why should it matter so much? After all, it is only the Olympics…
“It’s a very Latin thing to want to win everything,” Farines continued. “Brazil has often overlooked the competition; we think we’re better than anyone, so when we lost in 1996 against Nigeria, it was kind of like a big trauma – even though that Nigerian team was beautiful.
“It’s just another tournament we want to win. Uruguay won the first two in the early 20th century, which means we’ve had a long-lasting relationship with it.”
Rojas agrees, even the pedigree of Latin American nations in many other Olympic disciplines is markedly different.
“It’s incredibly important. As football is very much the main sport [for Latin Americans], being able to compete in the Olympic Games is an honour for any player, just like it is now for Argentina and Paraguay. South American countries typically do want to show off against the world in other sports so it feels as if football is their saving grace.”
While fans of traditional global footballing powerhouses will continue to mock the Olympics and feign complete indifference, you can bet they would celebrate if it was their players with gold medals around their necks come 9 August.
Heart of Football 
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