Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's tournament
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | China |
| Dates | 7 August – 23 August |
| Teams | 16 (from 6 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 6 (in 5 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
 Argentina (2nd title)
|
| Runners-up |
 Nigeria
|
| Third place |
 Brazil
|
| Fourth place |
 Belgium
|
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Goals scored | 75 (2.34 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,404,254 (43,883 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
 Giuseppe Rossi(4 goals) |
| Qualified for the quarterfinals |
| Qualified for the quarterfinals |
| Qualified for the quarterfinals |
| Qualified for the quarterfinals |
The men's association football tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held in Beijing and four other cities in the People's Republic of China from 7 August to 23 August. Associations affiliated with FIFA were invited to enter their men's under-23 teams in regional qualifying competitions, from which 15 teams, plus the host nation, reached the final tournament. Men's teams were allowed to augment their squads with up to three players over the age of 23.
For these Games, the men competed in a 16-team tournament. Preliminary matches commenced on 7 August, the day before the Games' opening ceremony. The teams were grouped into four pools of four teams each for a round-robin preliminary round. The top two teams in each pool advanced to an eight-team single-elimination bracket.
The tournament was won by Argentina, who beat Nigeria 1–0 in the final, as part of a record streak of 12 consecutive wins in football competitions at the Summer Olympics (six wins in 2004, six wins in 2008).
A National Olympic Committee may enter one men's team in football competitions.
For the men's tournament, each nation submitted a squad of 18 players, 15 of whom had to be born on or after 1 January 1985, and three of whom could be overage players, by 23 July 2008. A minimum of two goalkeepers (plus one optional alternate goalkeeper) had to be included in the squad.
On 22 April 2008, FIFA released the list of match referees that will officiate at the Olympics.
All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8).
Group winners and runners-up advanced to the quarterfinal round.
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