The Olimpico: How a corner kick in a thrilling match created football’s legendary ‘Olympic goal’

An Olympic Goal or an ‘Olimpico’ is a rare phenomenon in football. For those who don’t know, an Olympic goal occurs when a player scores directly from a corner kick. While a corner kick taker’s dead-ball ability is crucial to their officiating, it is also often the result of poor defending, especially from the goalkeeper.

What we know for sure about the Olympic Goal is that it is a misnomer. Contrary to what the name suggests, this is not named after a goal during an Olympic match. And most importantly, the purpose behind it all played a crucial role in preparing for the first edition of the FIFA World Cup.

The year was 1924. Uruguay had won the Olympic football gold in Paris. Being the biggest prize in global football, Uruguay was rightly considered the best team in the world.

This was difficult to accept for the South American neighbor Argentina. Argentina had not competed in Paris after losing the continent’s only qualifying spot to Uruguay.

To settle the debate, Argentina and Uruguay decided to play a home-and-away match. The first match, in Montevideo, ended in a draw with one goal each on September 2.

The second match, in Buenos Aires later in the month, had to be abandoned shortly after kick-off due to overcrowding in the stadium. The match finally took place on October 2, in front of an overzealous Argentine crowd.

The crucial moment came in the 15th minute of the match when Argentina’s Cesareo Onzari whipped in a corner from the right and curled the ball into the goal for the opener.

Interestingly enough, the IFAB had changed the rules just a few months ago – in June 1924 to be precise – to make such a goal legal.

Such was the significance of the Olympic Games and Uruguay’s gold medal for the competition that Onzari’s goal was quickly dubbed ‘Gol Olimpico’ or the Olympic Goal.

There were, of course, doubts about Onzari’s intention: was he just trying to cross the ball? According to Eduardo Galeano, Onzari maintained in his book ‘Soccer in Sun and Shadow’ all his life that he had done it on purpose.

The match itself was quite violent, with Uruguay reportedly resorting to aggressive play. Argentinian defender Adolfo Celli broke his leg in such a Uruguayan tackle. The home crowd quickly turned against the Uruguayan players. The hatred was so intense that the visiting team had to leave the field with four minutes to go. Argentina, which was leading 2-1 at the time, declared itself the winner.

But if Argentina thought it had gained the upper hand in the rivalry, it would be proven soon enough. At the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, Uruguay took revenge by beating Argentina in the final to claim a second consecutive gold medal.

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The feud continued into the first World Cup, with the two sides meeting again in the final. This time the victory was even more decisive. Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 to become the first ever World Cup winner, in front of almost one lakh fans in the stands in Montevideo.

The battle between Argentina and Uruguay defined global football in the 1920s. And the Olympic Goal is one of the most iconic moments to come from this rivalry.

Only once has the Olimpico taken place in the history of the World Cup. Marcos Coll from Colombia was the player who achieved this in 1962 against the legendary USSR goalkeeper Lev Yashin.

Published on June 8, 2026