The tournament features 14 men's national teams from six continental confederations.

At the end of the group stage, the top two teams advanced to the knockout stage, beginning with the quarter-finals and culminating with the gold medal match at the Olympic Stadium on 23 October 1964.

During the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament among South American national teams, a riot in Lima during the decisive Peru–Argentina match, after Peru's equalizing goal in the last minutes was disallowed by the referee, resulted in 328 deaths, which was considered the worst football disaster in history.

Ultimately, the tournament was played two teams short: Africa (3) Asia (4)

With 12 goals, Ferenc Bene of Hungary is the top scorer in the tournament.