Brazil U23 is one of the most successful teams in the Olympic football tournament, having won it twice (2016 and 2020) and securing a record total of seven medals, including two golds, three silvers, and two bronzes.

However, European and South American teams, as traditional football powerhouses that won every single FIFA World Cup, were restricted to players with no more than five "A" caps at the start of the tournament.

Brazil, managed by senior team coach, Mário Zagallo, won the bronze medal for the first time in 1996, in Atlanta, United States.

Although Brazil competed with an U23 team, all the appearances and goals in this tournament were recognized by FIFA as full international caps.

[14] Brazil, managed by senior team coach, Dunga, finished in the first position in the group stage, ahead of Belgium, New Zealand and China, which they beat 1–0, 5–0 and 3–0 respectively.

[18] Brazil, under coach Mano Menezes, was defeated by Mexico 2–1 in the gold medal match, played on 11 August,[19] after beating Egypt, Belarus and New Zealand in the preliminary round, Honduras in the quarter-finals and South Korea in the semi-finals.

In the final against Germany, on 20 August 2016 – the first match between the two teams in any FIFA-sanctioned tournament since the historic 2014 FIFA World Cup semi-final – Brazil edged a 5–4 victory on penalties after a 1–1 draw.

Neymar, captaining the side, scored the decisive penalty to win the tournament for the first time ever.

[20] Brazil qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics as the runners-up, of the 2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament in a rather difficult campaign.

They beat Egypt 1–0 in the quarter-finals, and Mexico in the semi-finals with a 4–1 victory in the penalty shootouts following a 0–0 draw in extra time.

In the final against Spain, Matheus Cunha opened the score for Brazil in the first half and a Mikel Oyarzabal goal in the second half forced the match into extra time; Malcom scored the winning goal in the 108th minute, which lead Brazil to their second Olympic gold medal, consecutively after their first win in Rio five years prior.