The

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

tournament at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, w ...

was won by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

Background

Following five withdrawals, the tournament featured three

Eastern bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

teams and four from

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. The other sides included in the draw were the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, the United Team of Germany (which was ''de facto'' West Germany),

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

and the hosts

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, competing in their first Olympic football tournament. The tendency of Eastern bloc countries to provide state-funding for their athletes put Western amateurs at a significant disadvantage. As a result, all Olympic football tournaments 1952 onwards were dominated by the Soviet Union and its satellites.

Venues

Final tournament

First round

Five of the sixteen qualified teams withdrew before the final draw: (who boycotted the Games to protest the reception of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

), (who boycotted the Games to protest the Israeli, British and French invasion), , , and the recent World Cup runners-up , a nation that was cheered in other Olympic contests due to their ongoing suppression by Soviet troops. Therefore, only three games were played in the first round: as China and Turkey had been drawn against each other, their match was scratched. The Soviet Union defeated the United Team of Germany 2–1, Great Britain defeated Thailand 9–0, and Australia defeated Japan 2–0. ---- ---- Byes: (drawn against Egypt, who withdrew), (drawn against Hungary, who withdrew), (drawn against South Vietnam, who withdrew), and (drawn against each other: match was postponed to the quarter-finals).

Quarter-finals

Yugoslavia defeated the

9–1. Great Britain lost 6–1 to Bulgaria, and at half-time, ratings from HMS ''Newcastle'' vaulted the fence and exhorted the team to show more grit, after which they were peacefully escorted off the field. The Soviets drew their game against

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

0–0 and won 4–0 in the replay. The Indians defeated Australia 4–2 with a hat trick by centre forward

Neville D'Souza Neville Stephen J. D'Souza (3 August 1932 – 16 March 1980) was an Indian footballer who played as a striker. During the "golden era of Indian football" under legendary coach Syed Abdul Rahim, he was recognised one of the finest strikers of In ...

, the first by an Asian in the Olympics. Prior to the game there had been debate, once again, as to whether the Indians should be shod.

Sir Stanley Rous Sir Stanley Ford Rous (25 April 1895 – 18 July 1986) was an English football referee and the 6th President of FIFA, serving from 1961 to 1974. He also served as secretary of the Football Association from 1934 to 1962 and was an international ...

respected their decision either way, although in the end, the Indians decided to wear boots. The Indonesian referee disallowed two first half goals. Bob Bignall the Australian captain was unable to get an intelligible reply out of him during the break. ---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

Yugoslavia defeated India 4–1. It would be their third consecutive Olympic final, after losing both in 1948 and 1952. The Soviets defeated Bulgaria 2–1. Bulgaria scored first and conceded two goals in the last six minutes of the game. ----

Finals

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

were playing

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Be ...

's Dragoslav Šekularac in this tournament; he would feature in the

1960 European Nations' Cup The 1960 European Nations' Cup was the first edition of the UEFA European Championship, held every four years and organised by UEFA. The first tournament was held in France. It was won by the Soviet Union, who beat Yugoslavia 2–1 in Paris afte ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

. They lost 1–0 to a second half

Anatoli Ilyin Anatoli Mikhaylovich Ilyin (russian: Анатолий Михайлович Ильин; 27 June 1931 – 10 February 2016) was a Soviet Russian footballer. Honours * Olympic champion: 1956. * Soviet Top League winner: 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 19 ...

goal. Bulgaria took Bronze defeating India 3–0.

Bronze Medal match

Gold Medal match

Bracket

India national football team at1956 Olympics

Goalscorers

Medalists

References

External links

Olympic Football Tournament Melbourne 1956
FIFA.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Football At The 1956 Summer Olympics

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

1956 Summer Olympics events