Very few World Cup winners could perform well and win medals at the Summer Olympics after lifting the FIFA World Cup trophy.
For any athlete, including footballers, competing at the Summer Olympics is one of the ultimate dreams, besides playing in the FIFA World Cup. Unfortunately, there has always been complexity when it comes to such chances. Its schedule is never in favour of professional football. The Olympics are always held from late July to August, which clashes with the club’s preseason schedule. Not to mention that it is always staged not long after the UEFA EURO or Copa America since it is contested in the same year as them. Moreover, football at the Olympics is not under FIFA but the IOC, meaning that all clubs have the right to reject the call-up for their players to join the U23 team.
Such clashes have been a common issue for football stars. Therefore, most of them either play at the Olympics when they are still not playing regularly in the first team of their club, as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo did in 2008 and 2004, respectively or when they have passed their peak years and featured as over-age players like Ivan Zamorano did in 2000.
Those who are still in their peak years are likely to negotiate for special permission to compete at the Olympics. Kylian Mbappe’s case is the most recent one. He would like to join the U23 team and win a gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, which is held from July 24 to August 10. The only problem is that the French superstar might have to delay his announcement to join Real Madrid, as Los Blancos would not allow his players to skip preseason for any reason, including playing for his country in the summer Olympics. Meanwhile, PSG has no issue with Mbappe’s ambition. Le Parisien has even prepared to sign another star as his replacement to keep PSG tickets in high demand next season.
There have been a few examples of World Cup winners who did get their clubs’ permission to play at the Olympics and performed well to meet the fans’ expectations. Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria are excluded from the list since they competed at the Olympics before they became World Cup winners. Here are those who performed well in the Olympics after becoming World Cup winners.
Ronaldinho
The legendary Brazilian versatile attacking midfielder is one of the few players who competed at the Olympics twice. The first was in Sydney in 2000 as a youth player U23, while the second one was in Beijing in 2008 as an over-aged player, or six years after winning the World Cup in 2002.
Unfortunately, his performance in both editions did not result in any gold medals. His second participation as a World Cup winner only led the Brazil U23 side to the bronze medal after slumping to a 3-0 loss to Argentina in the semi-final. They clinched third place with a 3-0 victory over Belgium. Ronaldinho, who just left Barcelona before the tournament, only contributed two goals and one assist in Beijing 2008.
Bebeto
The former forward in the 1990s also appeared in two Olympic editions: Seoul 1988 and Atlanta 1996. His first appearance was as a young player, and his second was as a World Cup winner after lifting the FIFA World Cup trophy in 1994 in 1994 the USA..
Unlike Ronaldinho, Bebeto won two different medals in those two editions. Yet, as a World Cup winner, the former Deportivo La Coruna star in the mid-1990s only snatched the bronze medal after suffering a stunning 4-3 defeat against Nigeria in a thrilling semifinal. In the third-place playoff, Selecao U23 romped over Portugal 5-0. It was a decline compared to his previous appearance in 1988 when he was part of the team that earned silver medals.
Overall, the former forward, who just switched sides to Botafogo before joining the 1996 Olympic team, contributed six goals as a World Cup winner, including a hat trick versus Portugal. Such led him to win the title of top scorer in the competition.
Aldair
The former centre-back was included as an over-aged player in the 1996 Olympic squad under Mario Zagallo. He was the key figure at the backline when Selecao won the World Cup in 1994.
In Atlanta in 1996, he was the first choice at the defensive line too and played every single minute throughout the competition. Unfortunately, he was unable to help Brazil go through the final. They only gained a bronze medal. The former AS Roma man still became the mainstay of the Brazilian national team until 2000, and he was part of the winning squad in the Copa America 1997 plus the final squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Ronaldo Luiz
The three-time FIFA Best Player was already a World Cup winner at the age of 17. He was included in the squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, despite not playing a single minute during the tournament.
Two years later, he had already established himself as a prolific goalscorer for PSV Eindhoven and was on the move to join Barcelona. The star nicknamed ‘Il Phenomenon’ was ready to prove his worth on the international stage. Atlanta 1996 was his first international competition after he missed the Copa America 1995. Ronaldo Luiz did not disappoint the fans, as he performed well during the tournament, bagging five times and providing one assist. Unfortunately, he could not help his country reach the final. He only won a bronze medal instead.
All players on the list happen to be Brasilians because they never underestimate the Olympics, and the gold medal has always been their target, while most Europeans did not take it seriously. The scheduling clash remains an issue, and most clubs tend to have objections to letting their stars join the Olympic team. On the other hand, Brazilian players have support from the CBF. Besides, the Olympics were the only tournament they had never won until their first gold in Rio 2016.
Some European World Cup winners did compete at the Olympics. Spain’s Juan Mata and Javi Martinez were in the Olympic squad in London 2012, whereas France’s Florian Thauvin joined the squad in Tokyo 2020. Yet, none of them performed well. Both Spain and France headed to the early exit, as they did not go through the knockout stage. Such would enable them to return to their clubs immediately to keep their spot. Otherwise, they may risk losing their place on the first team, will not have sufficient time to rest, or, worse, will have to be sidelined due to the injury they picked up from the Olympics.
