{"history":[],"article":{"id":"378baf22-4007-43dc-bc21-e2dd17a508e3","title":"Football at the 1928 Summer Olympics","slug":"football-at-the-1928-summer-olympics","content":":::summary\n![Football at the 1928 Summer Olympics on a stamp of the Netherlands](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/1928///Summer///Olympics///stamp///of///the///Netherlands///football.jpg)\n**Tourney Name:** Football at the 1928 Summer Olympics \n**Size:** 150 \n**City:** [Amsterdam](https://bliptext.com/articles/amsterdam) \n**Country:** Netherlands \n**Dates:** 27 May – 13 June 1928 \n**Num Teams:** 17 \n**Confederations:** 5 \n**Venues:** 2 \n**Cities:** 1 \n**Champion -flagvar:** use if the flag is other as current \n**Count:** 2 \n**Second -flagvar:** use if the flag is other as current \n**Second Other:** 🇦🇷 [argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina-national-football-team) \n**Third -flagvar:** use if the flag is other as current \n**Third Other:** 🇮🇹 [italy](https://bliptext.com/articles/italy-national-football-team) \n**Fourth -flagvar:** use if the flag is other as current \n**Fourth Other:** 🇪🇬 [egypt](https://bliptext.com/articles/egypt-national-football-team) \n**Matches:** 22 \n**Goals:** 128 \n**Top Scorer:** [🇦🇷](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina) [Domingo Tarasconi](https://bliptext.com/articles/domingo-tarasconi) · (11 goals) \n**Prevseason:** [1924](https://bliptext.com/articles/football-at-the-1924-summer-olympics) \n**Nextseason:** [1936](https://bliptext.com/articles/football-at-the-1936-summer-olympics) \n:::\n\n# \n[Football](https://bliptext.com/articles/association-football) was one of the tournaments at the [1928 Summer Olympics](https://bliptext.com/articles/1928-summer-olympics).\nIt was won by [Uruguay](https://bliptext.com/articles/uruguay-national-football-team) against [Argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina-national-football-team), and was the last Olympic football tournament before the inception of the [FIFA World Cup](https://bliptext.com/articles/fifa-world-cup), which was held for the first time in [1930](https://bliptext.com/articles/1930-fifa-world-cup).\nThis edition, along with the preceding [1924 edition](https://bliptext.com/articles/football-at-the-1924-summer-olympics), were the only tournaments in history outside of the World Cup that count as Senior World Titles equivalent to the World Cup.\n\n# Venues\n\n# Background\nUntil 1928, the Olympic football tournament had represented the World Championship of football (the 1920 (14), 1924 (22) and 1928 tournaments (17) all had greater participation than that of the first World Cup in 1930).\nThis presented a significant problem for the governing body, [FIFA](https://bliptext.com/articles/fifa), since the tournament, though organised and run by [FIFA](https://bliptext.com/articles/fifa), was an event subject to the ethical foundation that underpinned the Olympic movement.\nAt the time, all Olympic competitors had to maintain an amateur status, whereas professionalism was dominant in football.\nIncreasingly, FIFA had sought to appease those nations that required concessions in order that players could participate in the Olympics.\nThis required there to be an acceptance that irregular payment could be made to players by national associations: the so-called \"broken time payments\" by which loss of pay and expenses would be met.\nOn 17 February 1928, the four \"home\" associations of the [United Kingdom](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-kingdom), voted unanimously to withdraw from FIFA in opposition to the manner in which the governing body was seeking to dictate on such matters and, as was noted \"that (the four Associations) be free to conduct their affairs in the way their long experience has shown them to be desirable\".\n[Henri Delaunay](https://bliptext.com/articles/henri-delaunay), president of the [French Football Federation](https://bliptext.com/articles/french-football-federation) felt that FIFA needed to organise an international tournament outside of the Olympics.\nIn 1926 he stated, at the FIFA Conference: \"Today international football can no longer be held within the confines of the Olympics; and many countries where professionalism is now recognised and organised cannot any longer be represented there by their best players\".\nThe day before the tournament began, on 26 May 1928 the FIFA congress in [Amsterdam](https://bliptext.com/articles/amsterdam) presided over by [Jules Rimet](https://bliptext.com/articles/jules-rimet), voted that a new FIFA World Cup tournament be organised in 1930 and be open to all member nations.\nItaly, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Uruguay would all lodge applications to host the event.\n\n# Participation\nBy 1926, three years had passed since the British Associations had asked [FIFA](https://bliptext.com/articles/fifa) to accept their definition of what an amateur player was; [FIFA](https://bliptext.com/articles/fifa) had refused.\nThe Rome Convention was called to try to coax the British and Danes back into the fold; it proved only to distance them.\n[Switzerland](https://bliptext.com/articles/switzerland), a nation that favoured broken time payments suggested: \"It is not allowed to pay compensation for broken time, except in some well-circumscribed cases, to be fixed by each National Association\".\nThis challenge to the centralised authority of FIFA was disputed by the Football Association.\nIn 1927 FIFA asked the Olympic committee to accept the concept of broken time payments as an overriding condition for the competing members.\nThe British Associations consequently withdrew from the Olympiad and a few months later withdrew from FIFA (Association Football (1960))\nUruguay were considered to be the strongest side with the Argentinians shading the advantage between the two.\nUpon returning home in 1924 Uruguay had ceded to a request to play a disbelieving Argentina in a two staged contest; Argentinian fans hurling missiles at [Jose Leandro Andrade](https://bliptext.com/articles/jos-leandro-andrade) to the extent that he had with adopt a position deep in-field.\nThe Argentinians won.\nUruguay, the defending Olympic champions, once again sent a side made up, predominantly, by the personnel of their two biggest clubs: [Nacional](https://bliptext.com/articles/club-nacional-de-football) and, to a lesser degree, [Peñarol](https://bliptext.com/articles/pe-arol).\n# [The Egyptian squad | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/1928///Egyptian///Olympic///football///team.jpg]\n\n## The Europeans\nThe competition was more competitive than the 1924 edition.\nTen European nations (17 in all) had made the journey to the Netherlands for the competition.\nThe Italians had been defeated only twice in three years.\nThe Italian coach, [Augusto Rangone](https://bliptext.com/articles/augusto-rangone), had been a beneficiary of the national federation's decision in 1923 to permit subsidies to cover player's lost wages.\nFor two years his forward line had remained comparatively the same: [Adolfo Baloncieri](https://bliptext.com/articles/adolfo-baloncieri), [Virgilio Levratto](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgilio-levratto); even the loss of the Argentinian-Italian [Julio Libonatti](https://bliptext.com/articles/julio-libonatti) before the tournament was made good by the inclusion of [Angelo Schiavio](https://bliptext.com/articles/angelo-schiavio).\n[Spain](https://bliptext.com/articles/spain) had been defeated once since the last Olympic Games.\nAfter the first game, however, they lost their experienced captain [Pedro Vallana](https://bliptext.com/articles/pedro-vallana).\n\n# Final tournament\nUruguay immediately dispatched the hosts, the Netherlands, 2–0 in front of 40,000 people with none of the controversy that had surrounded their previous encounter at the [1924 Summer Olympics](https://bliptext.com/articles/1924-summer-olympics).\nThe game was controlled by [Jean Langenus](https://bliptext.com/articles/jean-langenus), a performance which was recognised.\nMeanwhile, the Argentinians had little difficulty against the United States winning 11–2.\nElsewhere Germany were defeated by the Uruguayans 4–1.\nIn another quarter-final the Italians encountered Spain.\nIn the first game they reached a tie with the Spanish fighting back from a half time deficit to force a replay.\nIn the replay three days later the [Azzurri](https://bliptext.com/articles/italy-national-football-team) scored four without response before the break.\nRangone kept faith in a largely unchanged team.\nSpain, on the other hand, had gambled by making five changes to Italy's two.\nPortugal, after wins over Chile (4–2) and Kingdom of SCS (2–1) lost to [Egypt](https://bliptext.com/articles/egypt) 2–1.\nThe African side advanced to a semi-final tie against [Argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina-national-under-23-football-team).\n\n# Bracket\n\n# Preliminary round\n

\n\n# First round\n

\n\n# Quarter-finals\n

\n\n# Semifinals\nThis meant that in the semi-final Italy played Uruguay.\nThe Italians selected [Giampiero Combi](https://bliptext.com/articles/giampiero-combi) in goal, [Angelo Schiavio](https://bliptext.com/articles/angelo-schiavio), in attack.\nBoth would be crowned World champions at the [1934 FIFA World Cup](https://bliptext.com/articles/1934-fifa-world-cup).\nIn this game the Uruguayans stormed to a convincing lead by the break; [Levratto](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgilio-levratto)'s goal in the second half flattered the Italians because Uruguay ran out comfortable winners by the odd goal in 5; [José Pedro Cea](https://bliptext.com/articles/jos-pedro-cea), [Héctor Scarone](https://bliptext.com/articles/h-ctor-scarone) scoring for the [Celestes](https://bliptext.com/articles/uruguay-national-football-team).\n

\n\n# Bronze medal match\n

\n\n# Gold medal match\nIn the final the Uruguayans played Argentina who had trounced Egypt (clearly out of their depth against more sophisticated opposition, they conceded 6 goals to Argentina and 11 to Italy in the bronze medal match).\nThe final itself was a close-run affair.\nBoth nations had been undefeated in competitive matches against other nations but had traded losses to each other since the last Olympic competition.\nThe interest was immense.\nThe Dutch had received 250,000 requests for tickets from all over Europe.\nOnce again, there was little in it; the first game finished 1–1 and the tie went to a replay.\nUruguay's Scarone converted the winner in the second half of that game.\n

\n\n## Rematch\n

\n\n# Consolation round\n\n## First round\nThe consolation tournament was ratified by FIFA but, as it was not organized by the Amsterdam Olympic organization, Olympic historians do not consider these matches to be part of the\n[1928 Summer Olympics](https://bliptext.com/articles/1928-summer-olympics).\n\n## Consolation final\n\n# Medalists\n# [Uruguay, winner of the tournament | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Uruguay///1928///olympics.jpg]\n# [The Argentina team won the Silver Medal | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Argentina///football///team///Olympics///1928.jpg]\n\n# Goalscorers\n# [Top scorer Domingo Tarasconi of Argentina | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Tarasconi///arg.jpg]","current_revision":null,"created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-26T08:20:11.457Z","updated_at":"2025-01-26T08:20:11.457Z","search_vector":"'1928':4 'footbal':1 'olymp':6 'summer':5","search_content":" \n \n**Tourney Name:** Football at the 1928 Summer Olympics \n**Size:** 150 \n**City:** [Amsterdam](https://bliptext.com/articles/amsterdam) \n**Country:** Netherlands \n**Dates:** 27 May – 13 June 1928 \n**Num Teams:** 17 \n**Confederations:** 5 \n**Venues:** 2 \n**Cities:** 1 \n**Champion -flagvar:** use if the flag is other as current \n**Count:** 2 \n**Second -flagvar:** use if the flag is other as current \n**Second Other:** 🇦🇷 [argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina-national-football-team) \n**Third -flagvar:** use if the flag is other as current \n**Third Other:** 🇮🇹 [italy](https://bliptext.com/articles/italy-national-football-team) \n**Fourth -flagvar:** use if the flag is other as current \n**Fourth Other:** 🇪🇬 [egypt](https://bliptext.com/articles/egypt-national-football-team) \n**Matches:** 22 \n**Goals:** 128 \n**Top Scorer:** [🇦🇷](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina) [Domingo Tarasconi](https://bliptext.com/articles/domingo-tarasconi) · (11 goals) \n**Prevseason:** [1924](https://bliptext.com/articles/football-at-the-1924-summer-olympics) \n**Nextseason:** [1936](https://bliptext.com/articles/football-at-the-1936-summer-olympics) \n \n\n# \n[Football](https://bliptext.com/articles/association-football) was one of the tournaments at the [1928 Summer Olympics](https://bliptext.com/articles/1928-summer-olympics).\nIt was won by [Uruguay](https://bliptext.com/articles/uruguay-national-football-team) against [Argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina-national-football-team), and was the last Olympic football tournament before the inception of the [FIFA World Cup](https://bliptext.com/articles/fifa-world-cup), which was held for the first time in [1930](https://bliptext.com/articles/1930-fifa-world-cup).\nThis edition, along with the preceding [1924 edition](https://bliptext.com/articles/football-at-the-1924-summer-olympics), were the only tournaments in history outside of the World Cup that count as Senior World Titles equivalent to the World Cup.\n\n# Venues\n\n# Background\nUntil 1928, the Olympic football tournament had represented the World Championship of football (the 1920 (14), 1924 (22) and 1928 tournaments (17) all had greater participation than that of the first World Cup in 1930).\nThis presented a significant problem for the governing body, [FIFA](https://bliptext.com/articles/fifa), since the tournament, though organised and run by [FIFA](https://bliptext.com/articles/fifa), was an event subject to the ethical foundation that underpinned the Olympic movement.\nAt the time, all Olympic competitors had to maintain an amateur status, whereas professionalism was dominant in football.\nIncreasingly, FIFA had sought to appease those nations that required concessions in order that players could participate in the Olympics.\nThis required there to be an acceptance that irregular payment could be made to players by national associations: the so-called \"broken time payments\" by which loss of pay and expenses would be met.\nOn 17 February 1928, the four \"home\" associations of the [United Kingdom](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-kingdom), voted unanimously to withdraw from FIFA in opposition to the manner in which the governing body was seeking to dictate on such matters and, as was noted \"that (the four Associations) be free to conduct their affairs in the way their long experience has shown them to be desirable\".\n[Henri Delaunay](https://bliptext.com/articles/henri-delaunay), president of the [French Football Federation](https://bliptext.com/articles/french-football-federation) felt that FIFA needed to organise an international tournament outside of the Olympics.\nIn 1926 he stated, at the FIFA Conference: \"Today international football can no longer be held within the confines of the Olympics; and many countries where professionalism is now recognised and organised cannot any longer be represented there by their best players\".\nThe day before the tournament began, on 26 May 1928 the FIFA congress in [Amsterdam](https://bliptext.com/articles/amsterdam) presided over by [Jules Rimet](https://bliptext.com/articles/jules-rimet), voted that a new FIFA World Cup tournament be organised in 1930 and be open to all member nations.\nItaly, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Uruguay would all lodge applications to host the event.\n\n# Participation\nBy 1926, three years had passed since the British Associations had asked [FIFA](https://bliptext.com/articles/fifa) to accept their definition of what an amateur player was; [FIFA](https://bliptext.com/articles/fifa) had refused.\nThe Rome Convention was called to try to coax the British and Danes back into the fold; it proved only to distance them.\n[Switzerland](https://bliptext.com/articles/switzerland), a nation that favoured broken time payments suggested: \"It is not allowed to pay compensation for broken time, except in some well-circumscribed cases, to be fixed by each National Association\".\nThis challenge to the centralised authority of FIFA was disputed by the Football Association.\nIn 1927 FIFA asked the Olympic committee to accept the concept of broken time payments as an overriding condition for the competing members.\nThe British Associations consequently withdrew from the Olympiad and a few months later withdrew from FIFA (Association Football (1960))\nUruguay were considered to be the strongest side with the Argentinians shading the advantage between the two.\nUpon returning home in 1924 Uruguay had ceded to a request to play a disbelieving Argentina in a two staged contest; Argentinian fans hurling missiles at [Jose Leandro Andrade](https://bliptext.com/articles/jos-leandro-andrade) to the extent that he had with adopt a position deep in-field.\nThe Argentinians won.\nUruguay, the defending Olympic champions, once again sent a side made up, predominantly, by the personnel of their two biggest clubs: [Nacional](https://bliptext.com/articles/club-nacional-de-football) and, to a lesser degree, [Peñarol](https://bliptext.com/articles/pe-arol).\n# [The Egyptian squad | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/1928///Egyptian///Olympic///football///team.jpg]\n\n## The Europeans\nThe competition was more competitive than the 1924 edition.\nTen European nations (17 in all) had made the journey to the Netherlands for the competition.\nThe Italians had been defeated only twice in three years.\nThe Italian coach, [Augusto Rangone](https://bliptext.com/articles/augusto-rangone), had been a beneficiary of the national federation's decision in 1923 to permit subsidies to cover player's lost wages.\nFor two years his forward line had remained comparatively the same: [Adolfo Baloncieri](https://bliptext.com/articles/adolfo-baloncieri), [Virgilio Levratto](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgilio-levratto); even the loss of the Argentinian-Italian [Julio Libonatti](https://bliptext.com/articles/julio-libonatti) before the tournament was made good by the inclusion of [Angelo Schiavio](https://bliptext.com/articles/angelo-schiavio).\n[Spain](https://bliptext.com/articles/spain) had been defeated once since the last Olympic Games.\nAfter the first game, however, they lost their experienced captain [Pedro Vallana](https://bliptext.com/articles/pedro-vallana).\n\n# Final tournament\nUruguay immediately dispatched the hosts, the Netherlands, 2–0 in front of 40,000 people with none of the controversy that had surrounded their previous encounter at the [1924 Summer Olympics](https://bliptext.com/articles/1924-summer-olympics).\nThe game was controlled by [Jean Langenus](https://bliptext.com/articles/jean-langenus), a performance which was recognised.\nMeanwhile, the Argentinians had little difficulty against the United States winning 11–2.\nElsewhere Germany were defeated by the Uruguayans 4–1.\nIn another quarter-final the Italians encountered Spain.\nIn the first game they reached a tie with the Spanish fighting back from a half time deficit to force a replay.\nIn the replay three days later the [Azzurri](https://bliptext.com/articles/italy-national-football-team) scored four without response before the break.\nRangone kept faith in a largely unchanged team.\nSpain, on the other hand, had gambled by making five changes to Italy's two.\nPortugal, after wins over Chile (4–2) and Kingdom of SCS (2–1) lost to [Egypt](https://bliptext.com/articles/egypt) 2–1.\nThe African side advanced to a semi-final tie against [Argentina](https://bliptext.com/articles/argentina-national-under-23-football-team).\n\n# Bracket\n\n# Preliminary round\n \n\n# First round\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n# Quarter-finals\n \n \n \n \n \n\n# Semifinals\nThis meant that in the semi-final Italy played Uruguay.\nThe Italians selected [Giampiero Combi](https://bliptext.com/articles/giampiero-combi) in goal, [Angelo Schiavio](https://bliptext.com/articles/angelo-schiavio), in attack.\nBoth would be crowned World champions at the [1934 FIFA World Cup](https://bliptext.com/articles/1934-fifa-world-cup).\nIn this game the Uruguayans stormed to a convincing lead by the break; [Levratto](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgilio-levratto)'s goal in the second half flattered the Italians because Uruguay ran out comfortable winners by the odd goal in 5; [José Pedro Cea](https://bliptext.com/articles/jos-pedro-cea), [Héctor Scarone](https://bliptext.com/articles/h-ctor-scarone) scoring for the [Celestes](https://bliptext.com/articles/uruguay-national-football-team).\n \n \n\n# Bronze medal match\n \n\n# Gold medal match\nIn the final the Uruguayans played Argentina who had trounced Egypt (clearly out of their depth against more sophisticated opposition, they conceded 6 goals to Argentina and 11 to Italy in the bronze medal match).\nThe final itself was a close-run affair.\nBoth nations had been undefeated in competitive matches against other nations but had traded losses to each other since the last Olympic competition.\nThe interest was immense.\nThe Dutch had received 250,000 requests for tickets from all over Europe.\nOnce again, there was little in it; the first game finished 1–1 and the tie went to a replay.\nUruguay's Scarone converted the winner in the second half of that game.\n \n\n## Rematch\n \n\n# Consolation round\n\n## First round\nThe consolation tournament was ratified by FIFA but, as it was not organized by the Amsterdam Olympic organization, Olympic historians do not consider these matches to be part of the\n[1928 Summer Olympics](https://bliptext.com/articles/1928-summer-olympics).\n\n## Consolation final\n\n# Medalists\n# [Uruguay, winner of the tournament | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Uruguay///1928///olympics.jpg]\n# [The Argentina team won the Silver Medal | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Argentina///football///team///Olympics///1928.jpg]\n\n# Goalscorers\n# [Top scorer Domingo Tarasconi of Argentina | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Tarasconi///arg.jpg]","revisionCount":0},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}

History