A total of sixteen teams participated in the finals of the Olympic tournament for men.
The Netherlands was the first European country to qualify for the Olympics as winner of their group, it will be their first appearance since 1952.
The fourth semi-finalist was England; however, because England competes at the Olympic Games as part of Great Britain which does not compete in football, the next two highest ranked teams in the tournament, Italy and Portugal, contested a playoff for the final place, which was won by Italy.
[3] Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria qualified at the 2008 CAF Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament.
New Zealand qualified by winning the 2008 OFC Men's Olympic Football Tournament.