The Men’s Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024 kicks off on 24 July. As we count down to the start of the competition, FIFA relives ten great moments in its illustrious history.

Lionel Messi, Juan Roman Riquelme, Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria, Javier Mascherano, Pablo Zabaleta, Ever Banega, Ezequiel Garay and Fernando Gago.

No, this is not a random assortment of Argentinian crowd-pleasers of the past couple of decades. Besides their shared nationality and having shone at club level in Europe and beyond for many years, they were also all part of the Albiceleste squad that reigned supreme at the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament at Beijing 2008.

This was a second taste of success at international level in three years for Messi, Di María, Zabaleta, Garay and Gago, who had all prevailed at the FIFA World Youth Championship Netherlands 2005™. They ran out victorious again at the Games in China PR, making it back-to-back Olympic crowns for Argentina after Marcelo Bielsa had guided the likes of Carlos Tevez, Gabriel Heinze and Javier Saviola to gold in 2004.

“The title that means the most to me is the Olympic gold we won in 2008,” Messi told the Latin American version of Esquire magazine back in 2017 – franted, he may just have changed his mind since claiming the ultimate prize at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. “Playing in that tournament is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” he continued.

Midfield general Mascherano – who will coach Argentina at Paris 2024 – may beg to differ, having not only graced the Olympics of 2004 and 2008, but triumphed at both.

Messi got Argentina’s campaign off to a flying start in China, breaking the deadlock in the 2-1 win over Côte d’Ivoire in their Group A opener, which paved the way for a smooth passage into the knockout stage.

The pint-sized forward later put his side in front with his second goal of the tournament in the last eight against the Netherlands, whose squad included Roy Makaay and Ryan Babel, although it would take extra time for Argentina to clinch victory. Next up, the holders breezed past Brazil – for whom Ronaldinho and Thiago Silva started and Alexandre Pato came off the bench – ۳-۰ in the semi-finals.

In the 2005 World Youth Championship final, Messi was the match-winner, bagging a brace against Nigeria. This time around, it was Di María who came to the fore, his solitary strike proving enough to sink the same opponents and secure Argentina’s second straight gold.