Football at Olympics: Players who won Olympics and FIFA World Cup in their career

Football has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except in 1896 and 1932. As part of the Paris Olympics 2024 too, the Olympic football events have started before the opening ceremony, due to the large number of matches. Winning the Olympics is in itself a big achievement. But winning the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup for a professional football in their career is something rare and astonishing. In this article, we'll look at the players who have won the Olympics and FIFA World Cup in their careers.

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Football at Olympics: Players who won the Olympics and FIFA World Cup in their career

Uruguay: Paris 1924 and Amsterdam 1928 Olympics | FIFA World Cup 1930

Uruguay won their first gold medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics after beating Switzerland by 3-0 in the Final. Before qualifying for the final, the South American nation trashed the host nation France 5-1 in the quarter-finals and beat the Netherlands by 2-1 in the semi-finals. teenage sensation Pedro Petrone established himself as the star. He was the top-scorer with seven goals, including one in the final and a brace in the quarter-final.

Four years later, the core of that team took home gold from Amsterdam, where Petrone starred once again alongside Pedro Cea and Jose Leandro Andrade. Uruguay were considered to be the strongest side and they delivered. Uruguay beat the hosts, the Netherlands by 2–0 to progress into the quarter-finals where they beat Germany by 4-1. The South American nation booked its place for the gold medal match against another South American heavyweight Argentina after beating Italy by 3-2 in the semis. 

Uruguay and Argentina played a 1-1 draw in the Final and had to play a replay to decide the winner. In the replay, La Celeste edged past La Albiceleste by 2-1 to win the gold medal for the second consecutive time.

In the inaugural edition of the FIFA World Cup in 1930, Uruguay were crowned the Champions of the World. Jose Nazassi once again led the side out as Uruguay lifted the trophy, defeating Argentina with a 4-2 scoreline in the final. La Celeste topped their respective group and then thrashed Yugoslavia by 6-1 in the semi-final. Pedro Cea scored a hat-trick in that game to send the team into the final.

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Italy: Berlin 1936 Olympics | FIFA World Cup 1938

The Azzurri were determined to win their first-ever gold medal in Men's football and they achieved that in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Italy registered a hard-fought 1-0 victory in the round of 16 against the USA to qualify for the quarter-final. It was so easy for the Azzurri as they thrashed Japan by 8-0 to progress to the next round.

Italy beat Norway in extra time in the semi-final to qualify for the gold medal match against Austria. Annibale Frossi, who was the top goal scorer (7 goals) in the Men's Football event in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, scored a brace in the final to help the Azzurri win the gold medal.

Four players of that team represented the Italy team in the FIFA World Cup 1938 to defend the title. Defenders Alfredo Foni and Pietro Rava, as well as midfielder Uglo Locatelli all started the final against Hungary, with forward Sergio Bertoni also in the squad. The Azzurri beat Hungary by 4-2 in the Final to lift the World Cup for the second consecutive time. 

Argentina: Beijing 2008 Olympics | FIFA World Cup 2022

The men's football tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held in Beijing and four other cities in the People's Republic of China from 7 to 23 August. Argentina beat Nigeria 1–0 in the final and held the record streak of 12 consecutive wins in football competitions at the Summer Olympics (six wins in 2004, six wins in 2008).

Argentina topped their group with 9 points and beat the Netherlands by 2-1 in extra time. Lionel Messi and Di Maria's La Albiceleste thrashed Brazil by 3-0 in the semi-final to reach the final to face Nigeria. With the help of Messi's assist, Di Maria scored the only goal in the final to help his nation the second-ever football gold medal in the Olympics.

14 years later of that Olympic success, the pair of Messi and Di Maria lifted the FIFA World Cup title. Di Maria netted a goal while Messi scored a brace against France in the Final. But, Kylian Mbappe's France didn't go down easily as he scored a hat-trick to take the game to penalties. Argentina won 4-2 on penalties to lift the World Cup title after 36 years.