The Olympic men’s and women’s soccer tournaments saw two nations top the podium for the first time as Brazil and Germany won gold in the men’s and women’s tournaments, respectively.
Brazil defeated Germany 5-4 in a penalty shootout in the men’s soccer gold medal match. Captain Neymar scored the deciding penalty kick for Brazil.
In the first Olympic women’s soccer final not featuring the U.S., Germany topped Sweden 2-1.
The U.S. women suffered their worst finish ever in a major international tournament as they bowed out in the quarterfinals with a shocking loss to Sweden in penalties.
Despite travel issues that saw the Nigeria men arrive in Brazil just hours before their first match, the team managed to win bronze with a victory over Honduras.
The Canada women defeated host nation Brazil to win their second consecutive Olympic bronze medal.
In the group stage of the women’s tournament, Canada’s Janine Beckie scored a goal just 20 seconds into a match against Australia. It was the fastest goal in Olympics history.
Beckie’s record stood for just two weeks as Brazil’s Neymar scored a goal 15 seconds into his team’s semifinal match against Honduras.
In the group stage of the men’s tournament eventual silver medalist Germany beat Fiji by a score of 10-0. It was the largest margin of victory in Olympic soccer since 1964.
There were 66 goals in the 22 matches of the women’s tournament, which averages out to just over 2.5 goals per games. In the men’s tournament teams scored 104 goals in 32 matches, good for a 3.25 goals per game average.
Join our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox
