As the summer draws near, the men's soccer tournament at the Paris Olympics is about to kick off. Looking back at history, a total of 34 countries and regions have left a brilliant mark on the Olympic men's soccer medal list, and Hungary is undoubtedly the best among them, writing their own chapter with the proud achievement of 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze.
Nonetheless, European nations don't seem to be a fan of the men's Olympic soccer tournament. Many European clubs even boycotted their players. It was not until 1992 that a European team won the gold medal in men's soccer at the Barcelona Olympics, with Spain taking the crown.
Asian soccer has had its share of success at the Olympics, with Japan winning bronze in Mexico City in 1968 and South Korea winning bronze again in London in 2012. Brazil managed to win back-to-back men's soccer titles at the last Tokyo Olympics.
The last time the Chinese men's soccer team traveled to the Olympic Games was in Beijing in 2008. Unfortunately, the Chinese team only managed a draw in the group stage, losing twice and going out of the tournament with 6 goals scored and 6 goals conceded.
Here is an overview of the winners of the last eight Olympic men's soccer tournaments:
25th, 1992 Olympic Games, Barcelona, Spain: won by Spain
26th, 1996 Olympic Games, Atlanta, USA: Nigeria wins the title
27th, 2000 Olympic Games, Sydney, Australia: Cameroon wins the title
28th, 2004 Olympic Games, Athens, Greece: Argentina wins the title
29th Olympic Games, Beijing 2008, China: Argentina wins the title
30th Olympic Games, London 2012, England: Mexico wins the title
31st, 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Brazil wins the title
32nd, 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan: Brazil wins the title
