However, sources claim that an unofficial football tournament was organised during the first competition, with participating teams including Athens and Smyrna (İzmir), then part of the Ottoman Empire.

In 1900 the competition was won by the London amateurs of Upton Park FC, representing Great Britain.

In the London Games of 1908 a proper international tournament was organised by the Football Association, featuring just six teams.

All players were amateurs, in accordance with the Olympic rules, which meant that countries could not send their full senior national teams.

Some of the English members played with professional clubs, most notably Derby County's Ivan Sharpe, Bradford City F.C.

During the 1920 final against Belgium, the Czechoslovakia national football team walked off the field to protest the refereeing of John Lewis[16] and the militarised mood within the stadium in Antwerp.

This would be the final all-European football competition at the Olympic games, with Egypt, the United States, and Uruguay participating in 1924.

[16] Uruguay dominated the tournament, winning their four games by a combined score of 15-1: the final was a 3–0 victory over Switzerland.

Because no other major international tournament existed yet, Uruguay defeated Argentina 2–1 in what David Goldblatt says was "football's first world championship".

[17] Following Jules Rimet's proposal in 1929 to initiate a professional World Championship of Football, the sport was dropped from the 1932 Los Angeles Games by FIFA in an attempt to promote the new tournament.

Peru scored a contested victory over Austria in overtime, with a fan invasion of the field at the very end.

As a result, young Western amateurs had to face seasoned and veteran Soviet Bloc teams, which put them at a significant disadvantage.

For the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the IOC decided to admit professional players, however, FIFA still did not want the Olympics to rival the World Cup.

A compromise was struck that allowed teams from countries outside of UEFA and CONMEBOL to field their strongest sides, while restricting UEFA and CONMEBOL (the strongest confederations whose teams had played all finals and won every single World Cup title) countries to players who had not played in a World Cup.

[25][26][27] The 1984 rules were maintained also for the 1988 edition, but with an additional rider: any European and South American footballers who had previously played less than 90 minutes in one single match of the World Cup, were eligible.

Football in the United Kingdom has no single governing body, and there are separate teams for the UK's four Home Nations: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

In an extreme example, two early-round venues for the 1984 Games were on the East Coast of the United States, well over 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from the host city of Los Angeles.

Paris 2024 From the 1992 Summer Olympics Football games always start before the opening ceremony because of the event's calendar which needs to be longer than other sports.

The knockout rounds are a single-elimination tournament consisting of quarterfinals, semifinals, and the gold and bronze medal matches.