Olympic Football Updates: Top Scorers and Team Standings

During the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Brazil‘s women’s football team celebrated a significant win against Spain in the semi-finals, thanks to an own goal from the Spanish side. This victory has propelled Brazil into the finals, showcasing their remarkable skills and teamwork.

Interestingly, the Olympics doesn’t hand out a golden boot award for the top goalscorers in football. Unlike many other international tournaments, there is also no ‘player of the tournament’ award at the Games, which leaves a sense of mystery around who might be recognized at the end.

As the men’s final approaches, three players are in contention for being the tournament’s top scorer. Morocco‘s Soufiane Rahimi leads with eight goals, impressively scoring in each match, including a standout performance where he scored twice against Argentina. Despite a strong showing, Morocco was edged out by Spain in the semi-finals.

Spain’s young talent, Fermin Lopez, and France’s Jean-Philippe Mateta could potentially surpass Rahimi’s tally. Both need to score four goals in the final showdown. Mateta has been in great form, scoring twice in the semi-finals and forming a strong partnership with Michael Olise.

On the women’s side, the top scorers have already been eliminated. France’s Marie-Antoinette Katoto leads with five goals, but her team lost to Brazil in the quarter-finals. Zambia‘s Barbra Banda has four goals but couldn’t advance past the group stages, leaving her unable to challenge Katoto.

Three players—Mallory Swanson, Sophia Smith, and Trinity Rodman—are tied with three goals each, with Swanson standing out for her two assists and overall play. Meanwhile, Germany’s Lea Schuller, also with three goals, will be competing in the bronze medal match against Spain.

Looking back at past Olympics, Richarlison was the top scorer in the men’s tournament at the Tokyo 2020 Games with five goals as Brazil clinched gold, while Vivianne Miedema shone in the women’s tournament, scoring ten goals despite the Netherlands’ early exit.

In the Rio 2016 Olympics, Serge Gnabry and Nils Petersen were the joint top scorers among men, each netting six goals. Melanie Behringer led the women’s tournament with five goals while Germany secured the gold medal. It’s interesting to note that the all-time men’s scorers in Olympics history currently see Denmark’s Sophus Nielsen and Hungary’s Antal Dunai tied at 13 goals, while Brazil’s Cristiane remains the standout women’s scorer with 14 goals.