football at the 1936 Summer Olympics

The 1936 Summer Olympic Games, hosted by Germany, were the first to feature a football tournament since the creation of the World Cup by FIFA in 1930. Football was not featured in the 1932 Olympics due to a dispute between FIFA and the International Olympic Committee regarding whether participation should be restricted to professional or amateur players. The International Olympic Committee felt that only amateur players should be allowed to compete, while FIFA argued that professional athletes should be included. Without FIFA's involvement, the tournament returned to amateur players only. Additionally, FIFA expressed concern that if a football tournament were included in the Olympic Games, it would downplay the importance of their newly created World Cup. The tournament was structured as a standard single-elimination bracket and featured sixteen participating countries. The competitors included Austria, China, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, Peru, Poland, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States.

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