The knockout stage of the 1968 Summer Olympics football tournament was the second and final stage of the competition, following the group stage. Played from 20 to 26 October, the knockout stage ended with the final held at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Mexico. The top two teams from each group advanced to the knockout stage to compete in a single-elimination tournament. There were eleven matches in the knockout stage, including play-offs played between the losing teams of the quarter-finals and semi-finals for extra allocated finishing positions.
Format The knockout stage of the 1968 Summer Olympics football tournament was contested between eight teams that qualified from the group stage. Matches in the knockout stage were played to a finish. If the score of a match was level at the end of 90 minutes of playing time, extra time was played. If, after two periods of 15 minutes, the scores were still tied, the match was decided by lots.
Qualified teams The top two placed teams from each of the four groups qualified for the knockout stage.
Group Winners Runners-up A B C D
Bracket The tournament bracket is shown below, with bold denoting the winners of each match.
Quarter-finals
Japan vs France
1 Kenzo Yokoyama 2 Hiroshi Katayama 3 Masakatsu Miyamoto 4 Yoshitada Yamaguchi 5 Mitsuo Kamata 8 Takaji Mori 9 Aritatsu Ogi 12Teruki Miyamoto 13Masashi Watanabe 15Kunishige Kamamoto 17Ryūichi Sugiyama Substitutions: 18Masahiro Hamazaki 6 Ryozo Suzuki 7 Kiyoshi Tomizawa 11Shigeo Yaegashi 16Ikuo Matsumoto Manager: Shunichiro Okano 19Henri Ribul 4 Jean Lempereur 5 Freddy Zix 6 Michel Verhoeve 7 Gilbert Planté 9 Jean-Michel Larqué 11Jean-Louis Hodoul 14Daniel Horlaville 15Marc-Kanyan Case 16Charles Teamboueon 18Gérard HalletSubstitutions: 2 Dario Grava 3 Bernard Goueffic 8 Michel Delafosse 10Alain Laurier 12Daniel PérigaudManager: André Grillon
Assistant referees: Erwin Hieger (Austria) Abraham Klein (Israel)
Mexico vs Spain
1 Javier Vargas 2 Juan Manuel Alejándrez 4 Héctor Sanabria 5 Mario Pérez 6 Luis Regueiro 7 Héctor Pulido 10Vicente Pereda 11Cesáreo Victorino 14Javier Sánchez 15Elías Muñoz 18Albino MoralesSubstitutions: 12Jesús Mendoza 8 Fernando Bustos 13Jesús Mendoza Rivas 16Juan Ignacio Basaguren 17José ÁlvarezManager: Ignacio Trelles 2 Pere Valentí Mora 3 Goyo Benito 4 Francisco Espíldora 6 Miguel Ángel Ochoa 7 Isidro Sala 8 Juan Manuel Asensi 11Rafael Jaén 15Juan Fernández 16José Luis Garzón 17Toni Grande 19Fernando OrtuñoSubstitutions: 1 Andrés Mendieta 10José María Igartua 13Crispi 14José Antonio Barrios 18Gerardo Ortega Manager: José Santamaría
Assistant referees: Dimitar Rumentchev (Bulgaria) George Lamptey (Ghana)
Hungary vs Guatemala
1 Károly Fatér 2 Dezső Novák 3 Lajos Dunai 4 Miklós Páncsics 5 Iván Menczel 6 Lajos Szűcs 7 László Fazekas 10Antal Dunai 14Ernő Noskó 15István Juhász 18István Básti Substitutions: 19Zoltán Szarka 9 Lajos Kocsis 11László Nagy 16Miklós Szalay 17István SárköziManager: Károly Lakat 1 Ignacio González 2 Alberto López 3 Lijon León 6 Luis Villavicencio 7 Hugo Montoya 9 Jorge Roldán 10Hugo Torres 11Jeron Slusher 14Armando Melgar 15Hugo Peña 16David StokesSubstitutions: 19Julio Rodolfo García 8 Nelson Melgar 12Antonio García 13Carlos Valdez 17Ricardo ClarkManager: César Viccino
Assistant referees: Romualdo Arppi Filho (Brazil) Alfonso González (Mexico)
Bulgaria vs Israel Bulgaria progressed after a drawing of lots.
1 Stoyan Yordanov 3 Georgi Hristakiev 4 Milko Gaydarski 5 Kiril Ivkov 8 Evgeni Yanchovski 10Atanas Mihaylov 13Asparuh Nikodimov 14Mihail Gyonin 15Yancho Dimitrov 16Georgi Tsvetkov 17Ivan ZafirovSubstitutions: 19Todor Krastev 6 Ivaylo Georgiev 7 Tsvetan Veselinov 9 Petar Zhekov 12Kiril StankovManager: Georgi Berkov 1 Haim Levin 2 Shraga Bar 3 Menachem Bello 4 Zvi Rosen 5 Yisha'ayahu Schwager 6 Shmuel Rosenthal 8 Giora Spiegel 9 Yehoshua Feigenbaum 10Mordechai Spiegler 11Roby Young 12Itzhak DruckerSubstitutions: 19Shmuel Malika-Aharon 13George Borba 14Yitzhak Englander 15Itzhak Shum 17Nachman Castro
Assistant referees: Guillermo Velásquez (Colombia) Shakibudeen Thompson (Nigeria)
Semi-finals
Hungary vs Japan
1 Károly Fatér 2 Dezső Novák 3 Lajos Dunai 4 Miklós Páncsics 6 Lajos Szűcs 7 László Fazekas 9 Lajos Kocsis 10Antal Dunai 11László Nagy 14Ernő Noskó 15István JuhászSubstitutions: 19Zoltán Szarka 5 Iván Menczel 12László Keglovich 16Miklós Szalay 17István SárköziManager: Károly Lakat 1 Kenzo Yokoyama 2 Hiroshi Katayama 3 Masakatsu Miyamoto 4 Yoshitada Yamaguchi 5 Mitsuo Kamata 8 Takaji Mori 9 Aritatsu Ogi 12Teruki Miyamoto 13Masashi Watanabe 15Kunishige Kamamoto 17Ryūichi SugiyamaSubstitutions: 18Masahiro Hamazaki 6 Ryozo Suzuki 7 Kiyoshi Tomizawa 11Shigeo Yaegashi 16Ikuo MatsumotoManager: Shunichiro Okano
Assistant referees: Guillermo Velásquez (Colombia) Erwin Hieger (Austria)
Mexico vs Bulgaria
1 Javier Vargas 2 Juan Manuel Alejándrez 4 Héctor Sanabria 5 Mario Pérez 6 Luis Regueiro 7 Héctor Pulido 10Vicente Pereda 11Cesáreo Victorino 14Javier Sánchez 15Elías Muñoz 18Albino MoralesSubstitutions: 12Jesús Mendoza 8 Fernando Bustos 13Jesús Mendoza Rivas 16Juan Ignacio Basaguren 17José Álvarez Manager: Ignacio Trelles 19Todor Krastev 2 Atanas Gerov 3 Georgi Hristakiev 4 Milko Gaydarski 6 Ivaylo Georgiev 7 Tsvetan Veselinov 8 Evgeni Yanchovski 9 Petar Zhekov 10Atanas Mihaylov 12Kiril Stankov 13Asparuh NikodimovSubstitutions: 1 Stoyan Yordanov 14Mihail Gyonin 15Yancho Dimitrov 16Georgi Tsvetkov 17Ivan Zafirov Manager: Georgi Berkov
Assistant referees: Guillermo Velásquez (Colombia) Erwin Hieger (Austria)
Bronze medal match
1 Kenzo Yokoyama 2 Hiroshi Katayama 4 Yoshitada Yamaguchi 5 Mitsuo Kamata 8 Takaji Mori 9 Aritatsu Ogi 12Teruki Miyamoto 13Masashi Watanabe 15Kunishige Kamamoto 16Ikuo Matsumoto 17Ryūichi SugiyamaSubstitutions: 18Masahiro Hamazaki 3 Masakatsu Miyamoto 6 Ryozo Suzuki 10Eizo Yuguchi 14Yasuyuki KuwaharaManager: Shunichiro Okano 1 Javier Vargas 2 Juan Manuel Alejándrez 4 Héctor Sanabria 5 Mario Pérez 6 Luis Regueiro 9 Luis Estrada 10Vicente Pereda 11Cesáreo Victorino 14Javier Sánchez 16Juan Ignacio Basaguren 18Albino MoralesSubstitutions: 12Jesús Mendoza 3 Humberto Medina 15Elías Muñoz 17José Álvarez 19Bernardo Hernández Manager: Ignacio Trelles
Assistant referees: Shakibudeen Thompson (Nigeria) Augusto Robles (Guatemala)
Gold medal match
References