Association football at the 1956 Summer Olympics
The association football tournament at the 1956 Summer Olympics was won by the Soviet Union.[2]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Australia |
| Dates | November 24 – December 8 |
| Teams | 11 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  |
| Runners-up | .svg.png){kind=small} |
| Third place | .svg.png){kind=small} |
| Fourth place |  |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 12 |
| Goals scored | 53 (4.42 per match) |
| Attendance | 194,333 (16,194 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | (4 goals each)[1] |
Background
Following five withdrawals, the tournament featured three Eastern bloc teams and four from Asia. The other sides included in the draw were from the United States, Germany (West and East united), Great Britain and the hosts Australia, competing in their first Olympic football tournament.
The tendency of Eastern bloc countries to provide state-funding for their athletes put Western amateurs at a significant disadvantage. As a result, all Olympic football tournaments 1952 onwards were dominated by the Soviet Union and its satellites.[3]
Venues
| Melbourne | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Park Stadium | Melbourne Cricket Ground | |||
| Capacity: 40,000 | Capacity: 104,000 | |||
 |
 | |||
Final tournament
First round
Five teams withdrew (Egypt, China(withdrew in protest of the participation of Taiwan) , Turkey, South Vietnam, and the football team of Hungary, a nation that was cheered in other Olympic contests due to the ongoing suppression by Soviet troops) before the final draw, which left only three games to play in the first round (China and Turkey were drawn against each other, so their match was scratched).
The Soviet Union defeated Germany 2-1, Great Britain defeated Thailand 9–0, and Australia defeated Japan 2–0.
| Soviet Union | 2–1 | .svg.png){kind=small} |
|---|---|---|
Isayev  Streltsov |
Report | Habig |
Great Britain  | 9–0 |  |
|---|---|---|
| Twissell Lewis Laybourne Bromilow Topp |
Report |
.svg.png){kind=small}
Byes: Bulgaria 
.svg.png){kind=small}
Quarterfinals
Yugoslavia defeated the United States 9–1.
Great Britain lost 6–1 to Bulgaria, and at half-time, ratings from HMS Newcastle vaulted the fence and exhorted the team to show more grit, after which they were peacefully escorted off the field.[4]
The Soviets drew their game against Indonesia 0–0 and won 4–0 in the replay.
The Indians defeated Australia 4–2 with a hat trick by centre forward Neville D’Souza, the first by an Asian in the Olympics. Prior to the game there had been debate, once again, as to whether the Indians should be shod. Sir Stanley Rous respected their decision either way, although in the end, the Indians decided to wear boots. The Indonesian referee disallowed two first half goals. Bob Bignall the Australian captain was unable to get an intelligible reply out of him during the break.
| Yugoslavia | 9–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Veselinović Antić Mujić Papec |
Report | Zerhusen |
| Soviet Union | 0–0 (a.e.t.) | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Bulgaria | 6–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimitrov Kolev Milanov |
Report | Lewis |
Semifinals
Yugoslavia defeated India 4–1. It would be their third consecutive Olympic final.
The Soviets defeated Bulgaria 2–1. Bulgaria scored first and conceded two goals in the last six minutes of the game.
| Yugoslavia | 4–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Papec Veselinović Salam |
Report | D'Souza |
| Soviet Union | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | |
|---|---|---|
| Streltsov Tatushin |
Report | Kolev |
Finals
Yugoslavia were playing Red Star Belgrade's Dragoslav Šekularac in this tournament; he would feature in the 1960 UEFA European Football Championship final. They lost 1–0 to a second half Anatoli Ilyin goal.
Bulgaria took Bronze defeating India 3–0.
Gold Medal match
| Soviet Union | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Ilyin |
Report |
Bracket
| First round | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||
| |
||||||||||||||
| November – Olympic Park | ||||||||||||||
| bye | ||||||||||||||
| |
9 | |||||||||||||
 |
1 | |||||||||||||
| |
||||||||||||||
| December – MCG | ||||||||||||||
| bye | ||||||||||||||
| |
4 | |||||||||||||
| November | ||||||||||||||
| |
1 | |||||||||||||
.svg.png){kind=small} |
2 | |||||||||||||
| December – MCG | ||||||||||||||
 |
0 | |||||||||||||
| |
2 | |||||||||||||
| |
4 | |||||||||||||
| |
||||||||||||||
| December – MCG | ||||||||||||||
| bye | ||||||||||||||
| |
0 | |||||||||||||
| |
1 | |||||||||||||
| |
||||||||||||||
| December – Olympic Park | ||||||||||||||
| bye | ||||||||||||||
| |
0 | |||||||||||||
| November | ||||||||||||||
| |
4 | |||||||||||||
| |
2 | |||||||||||||
| December – Olympic Park | ||||||||||||||
 |
1 | |||||||||||||
| |
2 (a.e.t.) | |||||||||||||
| |
1 | |||||||||||||
| |
||||||||||||||
| December – MCG | ||||||||||||||
| bye | ||||||||||||||
| |
6 | |||||||||||||
| November | December – MCG | |||||||||||||
| |
1 | |||||||||||||
| |
9 | |
0 | |||||||||||
| |
0 | |
3 | |||||||||||
Goalscorers
- 4 goals
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
- 1 goal
- Own goals
Medalists
See also
References
- Olympic Football Tournament Melbourne 1956 – Top goalscoring players. FIFA.com
- "Football at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-11-03. Retrieved 2006-11-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "News .....taken from "The Socceroos and their Opponents" by Laurie Schwab". Australian Online Soccer Museum. Australian Soccer Preservation Society. Archived from the original on 27 August 2006.
External links
| Tournaments |  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifications |
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| Squads |
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