With the exception of the two preliminary round games, which were played at Goldstone Ground in Brighton and Fratton Park in Portsmouth, all other games were played in the following London stadiums: Empire Stadium , Selhurst Park , Highbury , Cricklefield Stadium Ilford , Craven Cottage , White Hart Lane , Champion Hill , Green Pond Road and Griffin Park . Until 1984 it was the last Olympic soccer tournament in which a Western European team could win. The entire tournament was played in knockout mode . Before the round of 16 could begin, two teams had to be eliminated in a preliminary round. For Afghanistan, the game against Luxembourg was only the second international match and the first in Europe and against a European team. It was Luxembourg's first game against an Asian team and the 6-0 win is Luxembourg's biggest win to date. India, which had only gained independence a year earlier, and South Korea played an international football match for the first time in the round of 16, and the game between Mexico and South Korea was the first international match between a North American and an Asian team. The British team , which had won the first two Olympic football tournaments, was looked after by Matt Busby , the legendary coach of Manchester United in 1948 , and last won a game for a medal, but lost it to Denmark.
The matches played by countries with amateur national teams (France, Great Britain and Ireland) are also counted as A matches by FIFA.
↑ South Korea's biggest defeat, one of Sweden's two biggest victories
literature
Max Ehinger : The Olympic Football Tournament . In: Julius Wagner, XIV. OLYMPICS. The Olympic Games St. Moritz - London 1948 , (two parts in one volume). Zurich: Hermes Verlag, 1949, 323 pages