Football

All-time football goal leaders in Olympic Games history

Just one player this century has gotten close to the top of the list.

Published by
Mitch Keating

The leading male goal scorers in the history of the Olympic Games won't be too familiar to modern-age fans of the sport, with just one player on the top 10 list for all-time goal scorers having played in the 21st century.

Argentina's Carlos Tevez's eight goals across, which all came at the 2008 Beijing Games, comes in at equal 10th on the all-time list.

Danish representative Sophus Nielsen and Hungry's Antal Dunai sit tied for first on the all-time leaderboard with 13 goals each.

11 of Nielsen's goals came at the 1908 Games, with his return four years later seeing him net a further two to claim successive silver medals.

Dunai, a gold medal winner in the 1968 Games in Mexico, kicked six goals in Hungary's victorious run before scoring a further seven in their defending Olympics in West Germany in 1972.

His fellow patriot Ferenc Bene sits third on the all-time list with 12 goals, all of which came at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo as he helped steer Hungary to its second gold medal in football.

Argentina's Domingo Tarasconi (11 goals), Uruguayan Pedro Petrone (11), Germany's Gottfried Fuchs (10) and Poland's Kazimierz Deyna (10) are the only other players to kick double-digit goals at the Olympics.

Both Tarasconi and Fuchs kicked all of their career Olympic goals at a single Games, coming in 1928 and 1912 respectively.

Tevez's eight goals at a single Olympic Games ranks equal sixth best, with Bene, Nielsen, Tarasconi, Fuchs and Deyna doing better.

All-time

Name Team Goals
Sophus Nielsen Denmark 13
Antal Dunai Hungary 13
Ferenc Bene Hungary 12
Domingo Tarasconi Argentina 11
Pedro Petrone Uruguay 11
Gottfried Fuchs Germany 10
Kazimierz Deyna Poland 10
Harold Walden Great Britain 9
Vilhelm Wolfhagen Denmark 9
Jan Vos Netherlands 8
Hector Scarone Uruguay 8
Carlos Tevez Argentina 8
Bebeto Brazil 8
Harald Nielsen Denmark 8
Ibrahim Reyadh Egypt 8
Published by
Mitch Keating