Tevez, Neymar & Co.: Olympic top goalscorers since the introduction of the over 23 rule

Juskowiak in Top-3 

Whoever wants to become one of the top goalscorers at the Olympic Games has to do it quickly. Since 1992 only U23 players and a few overaged players are allowed to participate in the men’s tournament, which has significantly reduced the number of games players can play at the tournament that takes place every four years. The players that have risen to the very top are the subject of this article. The list includes the likes of Serge Gnabry, Andrzej Juskowiak, and Neymar—he, however, was given the chance to score many goals at several tournaments. 

Neymar has played twice at the Olympics for Brazil. In 2012 he played as a 19-year-old together with Alexandre Pato and Lucas Moura. The world star scored three goals on the way to a silver medal (to Brazil’s 2012 squad). Four years later, at Brazil’s triumph in 2016, the then 23-year-old scored another four goals. Polish forward Juskowiak needed just one tournament and six games to manage Neymar’s seven goals. But both are overshadowed by a legendary Argentine striker. 

Tevez leads the Olympic rankings – Petersen in the top 10 with the most goals in one game

In 2004, Carlos Tevez was a major part of his team’s tournament triumph scoring eight goals in six games for Argentina—the most of any player since the introduction of the over 23 rule at the Olympics in 1992, which pretty much secured that most players can only play at the games once. 

Freiburg’s Nils Petersen was part of the tournament in 2016. The German striker scored five of his six goals in one game—Germany‘s 10-0 victory over Fiji. Enough to rank among the top 10 players scorers in one game. Only five players scored more often in one game, including the German Gottfried Fuchs; he scored ten goals in Germany’s 16-0 victory over Russia in 1912. 

Homepage