In front of a crowd of 86,162, Mexico won their first Olympic gold medal in modality, beating Brazil, 2–1. It was Mexico's first major title since the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup on home soil and their first Olympic gold medal in football, both wins involved Mexico's final meeting with Brazil in these events.[2]
The Brazil national under-23 football team led by Neymar advanced as favorite to the final against Mexico, after 5 victories in 5 matches. Brazil, under coach Mano Menezes, beat Egypt, Belarus and New Zealand in the preliminary round, Honduras in the quarter-finals and South Korea in the semi-finals. Before the Games, they beat Great Britain 2–0 in a friendly game.[5]
Mexico qualified by advancing to the final of the 2012 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship, they topped Group B winning all their matches. They were drawn in Group B along with Gabon, South Korea and Switzerland. Mexico started with a 0–0 draw against South Korea.[6][7] In their second match, Mexico came out with a 3–0 triumph over Gabon; with Giovani dos Santos netting the two goals.[8] Mexico then confirmed top spot in the group by beating Switzerland 1–0, with a goal from Oribe Peralta in the 69th minute. In doing so, Mexico advance to the knockout stage for the first time since 1996.[9]
In the quarter-finals played at Wembley Stadium, Mexico struggled against a very motivated and disciplined Senegal, who had finished second in Group A. Mexico went up 2–0, with Jorge Enríquez scoring in the 10th minute and Javier Aquino in the 62nd minute. Moussa Konaté came up with the first of Senegal. Ibrahima Baldé equalised seven minutes later, making it 2–2. Ihe first period of extra time, dos Santos at the 98th minute made it 3–2, in favor of Mexico. Héctor Herrera sealed the victory scoring at the 109th minute.[10][11] In the semifinals, they came back from a 0-1 deficit to beat Japan 3-1 with goals from Peralta, Marco Fabián and Javier Cortés.[12]
Mexico's Oribe Peralta opened the scoring in the first 29 seconds of the game, being assisted by Javier Aquino, making it the fastest goal of the Olympics and in any FIFA tournament final. Peralta scored the second goal in the 75th minute, assisted by a Fabián free-kick. Hulk discounted late.[13][14]
^"Brazil – Mexico". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 11 August 2012. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
^"Brazil – Mexico". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 11 August 2012. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
Egypt
South Korea
Belarus
Gabon
New Zealand
Switzerland
Honduras
Senegal
Japan
