The football tournament of the 1948 Summer Olympics was won by Sweden. 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 league at A.C. Milan in the 1950s.
It was the first international football tournament ever to be broadcast on television, with the semi-finals, bronze medal play-off and final all being broadcast live in full on the BBC Television Service.
Venues Wembley Highbury Dulwich Fulham Empire Stadium Arsenal Stadium Champion Hill Craven Cottage WalthamstowLondon
South coast (→) Tottenham Green Pond Road White Hart Lane Brentford Griffin Park IlfordBrighton Lynn Road Goldstone Ground South NorwoodPortsmouth Selhurst Park Fratton Park
Participating nations
Squads
Final tournament
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 Britain at Highbury, 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 the South Koreans and in the semi-finals Sweden defeated the Danes. 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.
Preliminary round
First round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Bronze medal match
Gold medal match
Team details GK Torsten LindbergRB Knut NordahlLB Erik NilssonRH Birger RosengrenCH Bertil Nordahl LH Sune AnderssonOR Kjell RosénIR Gunnar GrenCF Gunnar NordahlIL Henry CarlssonOL Nils LiedholmManager: George Raynor
GK Ljubomir LovrićRB Miroslav Brozović LB Branko Stanković RH Zlatko ČajkovskiCH Miodrag Jovanović LH Aleksandar Atanacković OR Zvonimir Cimermančić IR Rajko Mitić CF Stjepan Bobek IL Željko Čajkovski OL Bernard Vukas Manager: Milorad Arsenijević
Bracket
Medalists
GoldSilverBronzeTorsten LindbergKarl SvenssonKnut NordahlErik NilssonBirger RosengrenBertil NordahlSune AnderssonGunnar GrenGunnar NordahlHenry CarlssonNils LiedholmBörje LeanderFranjo ŠoštarićMiroslav BrozovićBranko StankovićZlatko ČajkovskiMiodrag JovanovićAleksandar AtanackovićPrvoslav MihajlovićRajko MitićFranjo WölflStjepan BobekŽeljko ČajkovskiKosta TomaševićLjubomir LovrićZvonimir CimermančićBernard VukasKnud Bastrup-BirkHans ColbergEdvin HansenJohn HansenJørgen W. HansenKarl Aage HansenErik Kuld JensenIvan JensenOve JensenHans Viggo JensenPer KnudsenKnud LundbergEigil NielsenKnud Børge OvergaardPoul PetersenAxel PilmarkJohannes PløgerCarl Aage PræstHolger SeebachErling SørensenJørgen Leschly SørensenDion Ørnvold
Statistics
Goalscorers 7 goals
John Hansen (Denmark) Gunnar Nordahl (Sweden)
5 goals
Francesco Pernigo (Italy) Henry Carlsson (Sweden) Kjell Rosén (Sweden)
4 goals
Stjepan Bobek (Yugoslavia)
3 goals
Bob Hardisty (Great Britain) Emidio Cavigioli (Italy) Servaas Wilkes (Netherlands) Gunnar Gren (Sweden) Željko Čajkovski (Yugoslavia)
2 goals
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)
1 goal
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)
References
Sources
External links