Football at the 1920 Summer Olympics
In the VII Olympic Games in Antwerp in 1920 a football tournament of the men was discharged. Venues were in Antwerp, the Olympic Stadium, in the ten games, and the stadium Broodstraat, took place in the four games. In addition, three games in Brussels in the park Duden and a game in Gent were held in the stadium of AA Gent.
The tournament was attended by 14 nations ( Switzerland, said shortly before the tournament starts from ), including with Egypt for the first time a non-European country. 12 teams started in the second round, the six winners coated with France, which progressed without a fight by the retreat of Switzerland and Belgium had a bye into the quarter- finals, were in the last time only European teams.
In the final, Belgium defeated Czechoslovakia 2-0. Here, the previously very successful Czechoslovak team was behaving unsportsmanlike. After they had as vain already protested the first goal against the second goal of the Belgians, the team left because of dissatisfaction with the decisions of the English referee John Lewis after 38 minutes of playing time closed the place (according to other sources in 43 minutes ). Then Belgium was declared the winner and disqualified the Czechoslovak team.
Germany, Austria and Hungary were not admitted to the games.
- 3.1 First Round
- 3.2 Second Round
- 3.3 Third Round
- 3.4 Third place match 2 and 3
Mode
First, it was determined to stage the tournament after the Bergvall System called. The Bergvall System is a modified version of the knockout system and tries to minimize its weaknesses. Since in a pure knockout system, only the first place winner can be determined reliably, are all teams that lose to the winner, get a second chance and play for second place in the Bergvall System. The teams that are subject to the runners-up, will again play off for third place. This is to ensure that the final rankings is closer to the actual performance ratios.
The exact implementation of this mode, however, was left before the tournament already fall again, since one of the participants - and solely by amateurs with the regulations - such a long stay could not demand a. Therefore, the system was slightly modified: the losing teams in the quarter-finals should compete against each other. The winners of the two games finally play against each other for the first participant to determine who is in the semifinals of the round to square 2 and 3. In addition, the opponents of the tournament winner should complete from the finals, semi-finals and second round the field. These four teams should play off the silver and bronze medal in a simple knockout system.
The tournament
Second round
Said ** for financial reasons from shortly before the tournament.
Quarterfinals
Semifinal
* Each double events.
Final
** In the 39th Spielminunte canceled.
Some decisions of the 65 -year-old referee John Lewis were not comprehensible for the Czechoslovaks and so protested their captain Karel " Kada " repeatedly. In the 39th minute the left-back of Czechoslovakia received a field reference. Since renewed protests by the Czechoslovaks the English referee remained without effect, left, Karel " Kada " the square and the remaining nine Czechoslovak players followed their captain, after which the referee broke the game. After the match was abandoned spectators flocked to the square. In this way the Olympic final of 1920 ended with a scandal.
Tournament for 2nd and 3rd place
First round
Second Round
Third Round
The third round saw in later publications for all kinds of confusion. As Belgium in the second round with a bye, there was no team that could occupy the place of the Erstrundenunterlegenen. Whether the French was offered this free space, and had to cancel the French, as a part of the crew had already left, or whether the alleged match waiver rather from the ignorance of the exact mode originates ( the for the semi-final opponents of the runners-up, no further pairing envisaged ), can not be said with absolute certainty.
Spain also received a bye, as the Czechoslovak team was disqualified after the match was abandoned in the final and the place was thus left unoccupied.
Place game 2 and 3
Repechage
The match between Egypt and Yugoslavia is often referred to as a placement game and connected with a consolation round, which was not provided in the official program. All other teams that were eliminated in the first round, no other game more played at Olympia, also this game is led by contemporary Antwerp newspapers as a friendly game. It was not until the 1957 release official report expects the lot to the Olympic competition.