An association football tournament was played as part of the 1988 Summer Olympics in South Korea, featuring 16 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 Seoul Olympic Stadium on 1 October 1988.

[3] The following 16 teams qualified for the 1988 Olympics football tournament: A total of 314 footballers from 16 participating nations were called up to the Games, with 268 having played in at least one match.

Tunisia used the most players of any team throughout their run with 19 out of 20, while China only utilised 14 of their 18-man list.

Nevertheless, the International Olympic Committee medal database credits them all as medalists.