The Last Seven Olympic Gold Medalists (Football)

The Seleçao of Brazil achieved history. They became the first team since Argentina to get back-to-back gold medals after defeating a well-matched Spanish side 2-1 after extra-time thanks to former Barcelona player Malcolm, who scored the winner in the 108th minute. They managed to keep gold in football but it was quite difficult for the five-time World Cup winners to clinch Olympic gold. Let's take a look at the past seven Olympic gold winners in football from the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. 

Rio 2016: Brazil 

Brazil may have two gold medals in a row now but they sure searched hard to finally get it. They finally achieved gold on home soil in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Following their failed attempt to win the World Cup on home soil in 2014, there was tremendous pressure to win gold. A fate no Brazilian team had ever done. Led by star player Neymar plus having the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Marquinho, Gabriel Barbosa, and Rafinha, they topped their group whilst beating Colombia and Honduras in the knockout stages before facing a very talented German side, that contained Serge Gnarby, the Bender brothers and Leon Goretzka, in the final at the Maracana. With the game finishing 1-1 after extra time, it went into penalties and the Brazilians held their nerve with Neymar scoring the decisive penalty to win Olympic gold on home soil.

London 2012: Mexico

El Tri pulled out a shock in the 2012 London Olympics, beating a well-stacked Brazil to win Olympic gold for the first time in the country's history. As a football-mad nation, Mexico has produced very good players and had household names in their 2012 Olympic squad which contained Giovanni Dos Santos, Hector Herrera and Raul Jimenez. They topped their group with seven points and beat Senegal as well as Japan to reach the final at Wembley against Brazil. Facing Neymar and company, the Mexicans rose to the occasion with striker Oribe Peralta scoring twice to win Mexico's highest football honour since winning the Confederations Cup in 1999.

Beijing 2008: Argentina 

Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta, Sergio Romero and Angel Di Maria. These are the names that were part of the Argentina Olympic team in 2008 and later became the core of the team that led La Albiceleste to the World Cup Final in 2014. Defending their gold from 2004, they won all their group games and got through the likes of the Netherlands and Brazil to reach the final against Nigeria at the Bird's Nest in Beijing. A recap of another famous Olympic final, Argentina defeated Nigeria 1-0 thanks to a goal from Angel Di Maria. This was the first time since Uruguay in 1924 and 1928 defended Olympic gold in football.

Athens 2004: Argentina 

Led by current Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa, Argentina much like Brazil never won Olympic gold in football. Containing the likes of Carlos Tevez, Javier Mascherano, Gabriel Heinze and Javier Saviola, Argentina blitzed their way to the gold medal. They won all their games from the group stage to the final, beating Costa Rica, Italy and then Paraguay in the final at the Spyros Louis Stadium in Athens. They scored 17 goals with Carlos Tevez scoring eight of them and remarkably, they did not concede a single goal throughout the tournament. True domination. 

Sydney 2000: Cameroon 

Following the rise of African football throughout the 1990s, Cameroon continued that trajectory becoming the second African country to win Olympic gold. Having a young Samuel Eto'o plus Lauren and Geremi in the ranks, not to mention their success in winning the African Cup of Nations earlier that year, the Indomitable Lions were sure riding a wave. They went through their group unbeaten and pulled a big shock by beating Brazil in the quarterfinals with Modeste M'bami scoring the golden goal. They beat Chile in the semifinals to face Spain in the final at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney. Penalties were used to decide the winner with the game finishing 2-2 after extra time and Cameroon won 5-3 with Pierre Wome scoring the winner.

Atlanta 1996: Nigeria

Possibly the biggest achievement an African nation has done in the game, Nigeria's golden generation of the 1990s is still talked about today for several reasons and this is one of them. From Kanu Nwankwo and Jay-Jay Okocha to Sunday Oliseh and Taribo West, the Super Eagles captured the hearts of football fans for their exploits in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. They went through with six points and beat Mexico in the quarterfinals before facing Brazil in the semifinals. Despite losing 3-1 in the final twenty minutes, they turned the game around to win 4-3 with Kanu scoring the golden goal. Facing Argentina in the final at Sanford Stadium, they also came from behind to win 3-2 to reach heights no African team has reached before.

Barcelona 1992: Spain

With the 1992 Olympics taking place in Barcelona, Spain had the pressure to capture on home turf and had the players to do so from Santiago Canizares, Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique and Kiko Narvaez, who scored five goals. They won all three group games before facing Italy in the quarterfinals. They prevailed 1-0 before having another task, facing surprise package Ghana. They avoided a shock to win 2-0 and faced Poland in the final at the famous Camp Nou. In a game that saw Spain go behind and pegged back, La Roja finally won gold beating Poland 3-2 with Kiko scoring twice including the winner in the 90th minute.