The contest comprised of two qualifying rounds, a bronze medal match, and a final for the gold medal. The bronze medal match was held on 10 September between the Soviet Union and East Germany at the Olympic Stadium, Munich which was attended by 80,000 people.
Since the match was a tie between both teams, both countries were awarded the bronze medal. However, the gold medal match was won by Poland, making Hungary the silver medalist.
The football events at the 1976 Summer Olympics were hosted by Canada and persisted from July 18 to July 31. The reason for this quick finale was the withdrawal of three teams (Nigeria, Ghana, and Zambia) from the tournament due to the observance of the African-led boycott of games against the joining of New Zealand because its rugby team toured apartheid, South Africa.
Meanwhile, the Soviet Union managed to qualify for the bronze medal match and gained victory over Brazil for 2-0. The final match was held between East Germany and Poland, where Poland was unable to seize control in the match and lost against East Germany for 1-3. Consequently, East Germany was awarded a gold medal, Poland silver, and Soviet Union bronze.
