
Up until and including the Seoul 1988 Olympics, the event essentially used full national teams without restrictions. Since the 1992 games in Barcelona the event has been a U23 event. Since the Atlanta games in 1996, nations are also allowed to pick 3 "wild card" players that are over the age of 23.
Number of Qualification Spots per Continent - Beijing 2008:
4 - Europe
4 - Asia
3 - Africa
2 - North America
2 - South America
1 - Oceania
China automatically gets one of the Asia spots
Final Four Nations in Recent Olympic Games:
Gold medal winners in Bold
2004: Argentina, Paraguay, Italy, Iraq
2000: Cameroon, Spain, Chile, USA
1996: Nigeria, Argentina, Brazil, Portugal
1992: Spain, Poland, Ghana, Australia
1988: USSR, Brazil, West Germany, Italy
1984: France, Brazil, Yugoslavia, Italy
1980: Czechoslovakia, West Germany, USSR, Yugoslavia
1976: East Germany, Poland, USSR, Brazil
Soccer "Powers" that have appeared in past Olympics:
Listed by current FIFA rankings
192 - Afghanistan - 1948
171 - Chinese Taipei - 1960
165 - Malaysia - 1972
161 - Netherlands Antilles - 1952
157 - Burma (Myanmar) - 1972
127 - El Salvador - 1968
107 - Sudan - 1972
103 - Syria - 1980
Between 1952 and 1972, Hungary was without question the powerhouse of Olympic soccer. They picked up 3 golds, 1 silver, and 1 bronze medal out of that stretch of 6 olympic games.
Since 1980, only Brazil, Argentina, and Spain have won at least 2 medals of any color.
Cameroon and Nigeria make it 2 African nations with Gold Medal wins in the last 3 Olympic competitions.
For some interesting discussions regarding the US team selection, check out these posts at Soccer By Ives and Soccer Insider.
these are on facts I want facts
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