The football tournament of the 1948 Summer Olympics was won by Sweden.[1] This remains Sweden's only international title at a senior male football level and was the first international appearance of the trio that would later be known as Gre-No-Li dominating the Italian leagueatA.C. Milan in the 1950s.
Sweden, gold medal winners
| |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Great Britain |
| Dates | 26 July – 13 August 1948 |
| Teams | 18 (from 5 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 13 (in 3 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Sweden (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Yugoslavia |
| Third place |  Denmark |
| Fourth place | Great Britain |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 18 |
| Goals scored | 102 (5.67 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Gunnar Nordahl John Hansen (7 goals) |
← 1936 1952 → | |
It was the first international football tournament ever to be broadcast on television, with the semi-finals, final and bronze medal play-off all being broadcast live in full on the BBC Television Service.[2]
The tournament began on 26 July 1948 with a preliminary round of two matches: Luxembourg defeating Afghanistan 6–0 and the Netherlands beating Ireland 3–1, with Faas Wilkes scoring two goals for the Dutch. In the first round, which began five days later, the Netherlands played Great BritainatHighbury, Britain prevailing 4–3 after extra time. In goal for Britain was Ronnie Simpson, who would go on to become the oldest Scottish international debutant in history and one of the Lisbon Lions. Yugoslavia (victors over Luxembourg) and Sweden (3–0 winners against Austria) also went through. France eliminated India.
Sweden's style of play at White Hart Lane attracted much attention. Their forward line contained three exceptional players; one of them Gunnar Gren scored a brace in an easy win. There were two goals, as well, for future FIFA World Cup star Željko Čajkovski in Yugoslavia's 6–1 rout of Luxembourg, although they were behind at half-time. South Korea beat Mexico 5–3. Walter Bahr, Ed Souza, Charlie Colombo and John Souza were part of the United States team that lost 9–0 to Italy, conceding five goals at the end of the match when they were down to nine men. They would later participate in the 1950 FIFA World Cup and beat the favourites England in one of the greatest upsets in football history.
In the quarter-finals, Sweden defeated both the South Koreans and the Danes in the semi-final. In the second semi-final, Great Britain played Yugoslavia at Wembley Stadium, going out by three goals to one. 3–1 was also the score in the final in favour of Sweden over Yugoslavia.
Luxembourg  | 6–0 |  Afghanistan |
|---|---|---|
Gales  6', 79'Kettel 40'Schammel 41'Paulus 62', 80' |
Report |
Attendance: 5,000
Referee: A.C. Williams (Great Britain)
Netherlands  | 3–1 |  Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| Wilkes 1', 74' Roosenburg 11' |
Report | Smith[3] 52' |
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: George Reader (Great Britain)
| Yugoslavia | 6–1 | Luxembourg |
|---|---|---|
| Stanković 57' Mihajlović 61'Že. Čajkovski 65', 70'Mitić 74'Bobek 87' |
Report | Schammel 10' |
Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Karel van der Meer (Netherlands)
| Denmark | 3–1 (a.e.t.) |  Egypt |
|---|---|---|
| K. Hansen 82', 95' Pløger 119' (pen.) |
Report | El Guindy 83' |
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: Stanley Boardman (Great Britain)
| Great Britain | 4–3 (a.e.t.) | Netherlands |
|---|---|---|
| McBain 22' Hardisty 58'Kelleher 77'McIlvenny 111' |
Report | Appel 20', 63' Wilkes 81' |
Attendance: 21,000
Referee: Vald Laursen (Denmark)
France  | 2–1 |  India |
|---|---|---|
| Courbin 30' Persillon 89' |
Report | Raman 70' |
Attendance: 17,000
Referee: Gunnar Dahlner (Sweden)
Turkey  | 4–0 |  Republic of China |
|---|---|---|
| Kılıç 18', 61' Saygun 72'Küçükandonyadis 87' |
Report |
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Johann Beck (Austria)
| Sweden | 3–0 |  Austria |
|---|---|---|
| G. Nordahl 2', 10' Rosen 71' |
Report |
Attendance: 9,514
Referee: William Ling (Great Britain)
South Korea  | 5–3 |  Mexico |
|---|---|---|
| Choi Seong-gon 13' Bae Jeong-ho 30'Chung Kook-chin 63', 66'Chung Nam-sik 87' |
Report | Cárdenas 23' Figueroa 85'Ruiz 89' |
Attendance: 6,500
Referee: Leo Lemešić (Yugoslavia)
Italy  | 9–0 |  United States |
|---|---|---|
| Pernigo 2', 57', 88', 90' Stellin 25' (pen.)Turconi 46'Cavigioli 72', 87'Caprile 90' |
Report |
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Charles de la Salle (France)
| Yugoslavia | 3–1 | Turkey |
|---|---|---|
| Že. Čajkovski 21' Bobek 60'Wölfl 80' |
Report | Gulesin 33' |
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: Victor Sdez (France)
| Sweden | 12–0 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
| Liedholm 11', 62' G. Nordahl 25', 40', 78', 80'Gren 27'Carlsson 61', 64', 82'Rosén 72', 85' |
Report |
Attendance: 7,110
Referee: Giuseppe Carpani (Italy)
| Great Britain | 1–0 | France |
|---|---|---|
| Hardisty 29' |
Report |
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Karel van der Meer (Netherlands)
| Denmark | 5–3 | Italy |
|---|---|---|
| John Hansen 30', 53', 74', 82' Pløger 84' |
Report | Cavigioli 49' Caprile 67'Pernigo 81' |
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: William Ling (Great Britain)
| Sweden | 4–2 | Denmark |
|---|---|---|
| Carlsson 18', 42' Rosén 31', 37' |
Report | Seebach 3' John Hansen 77' |
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Stanley Boardman (Great Britain)
| Great Britain | 1–3 | Yugoslavia |
|---|---|---|
| Donovan 20' |
Report | Bobek 19' Wölfl 24'Mitić 48' |
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Karel van der Meer (Netherlands)
| Great Britain | 3–5 | Denmark |
|---|---|---|
| Aitken 5' Hardisty 33'Amor 63' (pen.) |
Report | Præst 12', 49' John Hansen 16', 77'J. Sørensen 41' |
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Karel van der Meer (Netherlands)
| Sweden | 3–1 | Yugoslavia |
|---|---|---|
| Gren 24' 67' (pen.) G. Nordahl 48' |
Report | Bobek 42' |
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: William Ling (England)
| Team details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| First round | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | ||||||||||
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| Yugoslavia | 6 | ||||||||||||
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| Luxembourg | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Yugoslavia | 3 | ||||||||||||
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| Turkey | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Turkey | 4 | ||||||||||||
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|  Republic of China | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Yugoslavia | 3 | ||||||||||||
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| Great Britain | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Great Britain (a.e.t.) | 4 | ||||||||||||
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| Netherlands | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Great Britain | 1 | ||||||||||||
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| France | 0 | ||||||||||||
| France | 2 | ||||||||||||
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| India | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Yugoslavia | 1 | ||||||||||||
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| Sweden | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Sweden | 3 | ||||||||||||
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| Austria | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Sweden | 12 | ||||||||||||
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| South Korea | 0 | ||||||||||||
| South Korea | 5 | ||||||||||||
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| Mexico | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Sweden | 4 | ||||||||||||
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| Denmark | 2 | Bronze Medal match | |||||||||||
| Denmark (a.e.t.) | 3 | ||||||||||||
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| Egypt | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Denmark | 5 | Great Britain | 3 | ||||||||||
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| Italy | 3 | Denmark | 5 | ||||||||||
| Italy | 9 | ||||||||||||
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| United States | 0 | ||||||||||||
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John Hansen (Denmark) Gunnar Nordahl (Sweden) Francesco Pernigo (Italy) Henry Carlsson (Sweden) Kjell Rosén (Sweden) Stjepan Bobek (Yugoslavia) Bob Hardisty (Great Britain) Emidio Cavigioli (Italy) Servaas Wilkes (Netherlands) Gunnar Gren (Sweden) Željko Čajkovski (Yugoslavia) Karl Aage Hansen (Denmark) Johannes Pløger (Denmark) Emilio Caprile (Italy) Julien Gales (Luxembourg) Marcel Paulus (Luxembourg) Fernand Schammel (Luxembourg) Bram Appel (Netherlands) Chung Kook-chin (South Korea) Nils Liedholm (Sweden) Gündüz Kılıç (Turkey) Rajko Mitić (Yugoslavia) Franjo Wölfl (Yugoslavia) Karl Aage Præst (Denmark) Holger Seebach (Denmark) Jørgen Leschly Sørensen (Denmark) El Din El Guindy (Egypt) René Courbin (France) René Persillon (France) Andy Aitken (Great Britain) Bill Amor (Great Britain) Frank Donovan (Great Britain) Dennis Kelleher (Great Britain) Douglas McBain (Great Britain) Harry McIlvenny (Great Britain) Sarangapani Raman (India) Bobby Smith (Ireland) Adone Stellin (Italy) Angelo Turconi (Italy) Nicolas Kettel (Luxembourg) Raúl Cárdenas (Mexico) Antonio Figueroa (Mexico) José Ruiz (Mexico) Andre Roosenburg (Netherlands) Bai Chon-go (South Korea) Chung Nam-sik (South Korea) Choi Song-gon (South Korea) Şükrü Gülesin (Turkey) Lefter Küçükandonyadis (Turkey) Huseyin Saygun (Turkey) Prvoslav Mihajlović (Yugoslavia) Branko Stanković (Yugoslavia)
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