The big news in 1996 was that women’s football was now an Olympic sport. Women had first competed in a World Cup in 1991, won by the United States, with Norway winning in 1995. Women had an eight-team field, made up of seven of the top eight teams from the 1995 World Cup, with Brazil replacing England, as England could not compete in the Olympics independently. Women had two groups of four teams each with the top two teams in each group advancing to the semi-finals. The United States women won the gold medal, defeating China in the final, 2-1, on a late goal.

The men had the standard field and format of 16 teams separated into four four-team groups, that played a round-robin to determine the top two teams in each group, who advanced to the quarter-finals and the knock-out phase. Both the men and women played in five stadia spread around the United States, as follows – Sanford Stadium, Athens, Georgia; Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida; Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama; Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida; and Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Washington, DC.

The 16 men’s qualifiers were as follows – the United States as the host nation; five teams from the 1996 UEFA Europe Under-21 Championships (Italy, Spain, France, Hungary, Portugal); three teams from a CAF (Africa) Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Ghana, Tunisia, Nigeria); three teams from an AFC (Asia) Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Korea [South], Japan, Saudi Arabia); one team from a CONCACAF (North & Central America/Caribbean) Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Mexico); two teams from a CONMEBOL (South America) Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Brazil, Argentina); and Australia from the OFC (Oceania) Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Nigeria became the first African nation to win Olympic football gold, defeating Argentina in the final, 3-2. Brazil took bronze with a crushing defeat of Portugal, 5-0.

The football tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics started on 20 July and finished on 3 August. The women's competition was contested for the first time in Olympic history at these Games.

Rules for eligibility were relaxed, as each team was now allowed to add three players older than 23 to their team. These players were not allowed to compete in the qualification matches, only in the final tournament. The pre-tournament favourites were Brazil, coached by national team manager Mario Zagallo. With star players like [Ronaldo] and [Bebeto] in attendance, the South Americans suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Japan in their first match, but the team recovered to reach the semi-finals. There, they met Nigeria, which had already lost to Brazil in the group stage. The Africans had a team composed of star players from several European leagues, and five had competed in the 1994 World Cup. But the )Super Eagles) trailed 3-1 at the interval.

Following an [Ikpeba] goal, a late shot by [Nwankwo Kanu] forced the match into overtime. For the first time the, )golden goal) rule was in force, meaning the first team to score in extra time would win the match. Kanu secured his role as man of the match by scoring just minutes into extra time. Nigeria encountered a second South American opponent in the final, Argentina. The match was somewhat overshadowed by blunders from the referee and his linesman. Argentina pulled ahead 2-1 from a rather undeserved spot kick, and the match decider two minutes before the final whistle was scored with three Nigerians in offside position. But this did not matter to the Nigerians, who celebrated Africa's first Olympic gold medal in football.

In the years since the Atlanta Olympics many questions have been asked about the true ages of certain members of the Nigerian squad. Allegations that as many as half the team were overage, some by as many as ten years, have been made but none has been proved beyond doubt to be true.

On the strength of just one victory and two ties each, Argentina and Portugal advanced to the quarterfinals out of the Group A field that also included Tunisia and the United States. Portugal's lone victory over Tunisia was the country's first win in 68 years, while Argentina defeated the US 3-1 before an opening-day crowd of 83,110 at Legion Field. In Group B, France and Spain advanced by defeating both Australia and Saudi Arabia and battling to a 1-1 tie in head-to-head competition. All four teams in Group C—Ghana, Italy, Korea, and Mexico—managed just one win each. Mexico, however, claimed the top spot with one win and two ties. Both Ghana and In the quarterfinals, Argentina knocked out Spain 4-0, Portugal advanced past France 2-1, Nigeria blanked Mexico 2-0, and Brazil was a 4-2 winner over Ghana. Before a semifinal crowd of 78,212 at Sanford Stadium, Argentina overcame a stubborn Portugal defense as Hernán Jorge Crespo scored twice within a seven-minute span in the second half to advance Argentina to the gold-medal match with a 2-0 win. These same teams had fought to a 1-1 tie in the preliminary round. Playing a day later before 78,587 fans, Nigeria rallied from a 3-1 second-half deficit to stun Brazil 4-3 in the other semifinal match. Nigeria's team captain Nwankwo Kanu celebrated his 20th birthday a day early by scoring the game's final two goals within five minutes.
The game-winning goal came later, in the 94th minute of play. In the thrilling final match, Nigeria defeated Argentina 3-2 to become the first African nation to win a gold medal in football. With the score tied at 1-1, Crespo scored on a penalty kick five minutes into the second half to give Argentina the lead. The goal also gave Crespo the tournament scoring title with 21 points (six goals and three assists). Nigeria's Daniel Amokachi made the score 2-2 in the 74th minute of play, setting the stage for his teammate Emmanuel Amunike to score the winning goal. With one minute remaining in regulation play, Argentina attempted an offside trap on a free kick from the edge of the penalty area, but Amunike beat the trap and struck a volley into the lower-right corner of the net. While Argentina protested in vain for an offside call on the play, the Nigerian "Super Eagles" celebrated their historic victory. The gold-medal-winning Nigerian team had the following members: Daniel Amokachi, Emmanuel Amunike, Tijani Babangida, Celestine Babayaro, Emmanuel Babayaro, Joseph Dosu, Teslim Fatusi, Victor Ikpeba, Nwankwo Kanu, Garba Lawal, Abiodon Obafemi, Mobi Obaraku, Kingsley Obiekwu, Augustine Okocha, Sunday Oliseh, Wilson Oruma, Okechukwu Uche, and Taribo West. The members of the Argentinian team were Matias Jesus Almeyda, Roberto Fabián Ayala, Christian Gustavo Bassedas, Carlos Gustavo Bossio, Pablo Oscar Cavallero, José Antonio Chamot, Hernán Jorge Crespo, Marcelo Alejandro Delgado, Marcelo Daniel Gallardo, Claudio Javier López, Gustavo Adrian López, Hugo Alberto Morales, Arnaldo Ariel Ortega, Pablo Ariel Paz, Hector Mauricio Pineda, Roberto Nestor Sensini, Diego Pablo Simeone, and Javier Adelmar Zanetti. In the bronze-medal match, the crowd witnessed a hat trick (three goals scored in one game by a single player) by Brazil's forward José Roberto Gama Oliveira in Brazil's decisive 5-0 victory over Portugal. The Brazilian team members were Flávio da Conceição, José Marcelo Ferreira, Rivaldo Victor Borba Ferreira, Oswaldo Giroldo Junior, Luiz Carlos Goulart, Ronaldo Guiaro, Danrlei de Deus Hinterhloz, Ronaldo Luiz Nazario Lima, Alexandre da Silva Mariano, José Elias Moedim Junior, André Luiz Moreira, José Roberto Gama Oliveira, Sávio Bortolini Pimentel, Aldair Nascimento Santos, Narciso dos Santos, Nelson de Jesus Silva, Roberto Carlos Silva, and Marcelo José de Souza.

The 1996 Men's Olympic Football Tournament, played as part of the 1996 Summer Olympics, was hosted in Birmingham, Alabama, Washington, D.C., Orlando, Florida, Miami, Florida and Athens, Georgia. From 1992 onwards, male competitors should be under 23 years old, with three over-23 players allowed per squad. The tournament featured 16 national teams from the six continental confederations. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four and each group played a round-robin tournament. At the end of the group stage, the top two teams advanced to the knockout stage, beginning with the quarter-finals and culminating with the gold medal match at Sanford Stadium on August 3, 1996.