Olympic Soccer 2016: Men's Results, Group Table After Thursday Matches

The 2016 Rio Games are still awaiting their official start at Friday's opening ceremony, but preliminary-round soccer matches got underway for the men Thursday.

Eight matches in total were on the slate, as all 16 teams competing for gold got their first crack at scoring a win. Host country and presumptive favorite Brazil kicked things off with South Africa, while Germany and Argentina were expected to have a much tougher go against Mexico and Portugal, respectively.

Each team will have a two-day break before returning to the pitch Aug. 7 and again Aug. 10 to close out group play. Here is a look at how the first day of action went down.

Group Tables

Place	Country	Games	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals	Goals Against	Differential	Points
1	Iraq	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
2	Denmark	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
3	Brazil	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
4	South Africa	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1

Place	Country	Games	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals	Goals Against	Differential	Points
1	Nigeria	1	1	0	0	5	4	+1	3
2	Sweden	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	1
2	Sweden	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	1
3	Japan	1	0	0	1	0	0	-1	0

Place	Country	Games	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals	Goals Against	Differential	Points
1	South Korea	1	1	0	0	8	0	+8	3
2	Germany	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	1
2	Mexico	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	1
4	Fiji	1	0	0	1	0	8	−8	0

Place	Country	Games	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals	Goals Against	Differential	Points
1	Portugal	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	3
2	Honduras	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1	3
3	Algeria	1	0	0	1	2	3	-1	0
4	Argentina	1	0	0	1	0	2	-2	0

Thursday Results

Denmark 0, Iraq 0

EVARISTO SA/Getty Images

Despite Iraq peppering the attack zone for much of the match, Denmark was able to walk away with a 0-0 draw thanks to the stellar play of Jeppe Hojbjerg. 

The Denmark keeper stopped all 10 Iraqi shots on goal, including a stellar stop on Mahdi Kamil in stoppage time. Iraq had four shots on goal coming in the 85th minute or later. They finished with a 17-7 shot advantage overall, with only two Denmark attempts winding up on target. The Iraqis also held possession for 57 percent of the match; there's going to be some sting about letting this slip away with only one point.

That said, Hojbjerg deserves credit for an astounding performance. If it weren't for his heady positioning throughout, Denmark probably surrenders two or possibly three goals. 

With a winnable match still upcoming against South Africa, both Denmark and Iraq have to feel strong about their chances of advancing.

Brazil 0, South Africa 0

Eraldo Peres/Associated Press

The window was blown wide open in Group A when South Africa held on for a 0-0 draw despite playing the last 30 minutes with 10 men.

It was a remarkable result that left Brazil players being showered with boos as they left the pitch. Neymar nearly gave the home country a 1-0 win in stoppage time but his right-footed shot was saved by Itumeleng Khune. New Manchester star Gabriel Jesus also had a chance for the Brazilians late but failed to convert.

Brazil's result makes it six straight Olympic hosts either losing or drawing in their opening match.

For South Africa, it marks a triumph that might open up a spot in the knockout round. Their defense survived despite 20 Brazil shots, though only seven went on goal. The match was almost a back-and-forth affair until Mothobi Mvala was sent off with his second yellow card in the 59th minute. From there, South Africa gritted their teeth and just tried to come away with a draw.

Brazil held possession for 65 percent of the match, had 10 corner kicks and are clearly the superior team from a talent standpoint. But now they stand one more bad result away from perhaps exiting the Olympics in the group stage—a disastrous result.

With Denmark and Iraq both set as underdogs versus Brazil, South Africa could advance with just one more win.

Honduras 3, Algeria 2

Leo Correa/Associated Press

Honduras committed 29 fouls. Algeria attempted 29 shots. Yet when all was said and done, it was the Hondurans who walked away with a 3-2 victory.

Romell Quioto and Marcelo Pereira each scored first-half goals and Anthony Lozano added a critical third in the 79th minute to stave off an aggressive Algeria. Sofiane Bendebka and Baghdad Bounedjah each scored second-half goals as part of Algeria's comeback effort.

The match was one of consistent missed opportunities for Algeria, with Bounedjah's early missed goal chance setting a tone. Algeria wound up with 60 percent possession rate and eight corner kicks. Keeper Farid Chaal also saw only five shots on goal.

With Argentina on deck, Algeria's Olympic bid looks likely to close Sunday. 

Germany 2, Mexico 2

Arrison Marinho/Associated Press

Germany and Mexico looked every bit worthy of the billing of Group C favorites Thursday, battling their way to a hard-fought 2-2 draw.

The defending Olympic champions struck first in the 52nd minute when Oribe Peralta found the back of the net, only to be answered six minutes later by Serge Gnabry. Mexico took their most extended lead of the match after Rodolfo Pizarro's goal in the 61st minute, but Matthias Ginter tied it up in the 78th to end all scoring.

Germany held possession for a strong 62 percent of the match but spent most of the time failing to convert bad shot attempts. The Germans had 20 attempts, only four of which went on goal. Mexico by contrast had five shots on goal in 13 attempts.

Mexico should be able to bounce back with a win over an overmatched Fijian team, while German faces off against South Korea.

Colombia 2, Sweden 2

Michael Dantas/Associated Press

A costly penalty may come back to bite Sweden as they look to advance, as Dorlan Pabon scored a penalty in the 75th minute to give Colombia a 2-2 draw with the Swedes.

Sweden had held a 2-1 lead after Astrit Ajdarevic's goal in the 62nd minute broke a 1-1 tie. Mikael Ishak also scored in the 43rd minute for Sweden, while Teofilo Gutierrez's goal in the 17th minute opened scoring.

Colombia and Sweden split possession exactly down the middle at 50 percent apiece. Colombia spent most of the match acting as the aggressors, recording 15 shots to Sweden's nine and 21 penalties to the Swedes' 12.

South Korea 8, Fiji 0

Ryu Seung-Woo scored a hat trick and Chang-Hoon Kwon and Hyun Jun Suk scored two apiece as South Korea ran away with an 8-0 thrashing of Fiji.

Son Heung-Min also scored for the South Koreans, who ran up the score in a match that was never in question. The favorites held possession for 79 percent of the match, took 32 shots to Fiji's five and put on an all-out thrashing designed to get them into the elimination round.

Seven of South Korea's goals came in the second half. Seung-Woo did not score the first until the 32nd minute, but after that it was open season. The NBC Olympics Twitter feed captured the onslaught: 

The Fijians will try to dust themselves off against Mexico on Sunday, while South Korea looks to strengthen their position by tying or defeating Germany.  

Portugal 2, Argentina 0 

Portugal vaulted to the top of Group D with a stellar 2-0 victory over Argentina on Thursday as the country continued to experience tremendous success following a victorious run at the 2016 European championships. 

Not only did the Portuguese dominate possession, 58-42, but they tallied a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal as they continually imposed their will on an overmatched Argentine side. 

That said, it did take quite a bit of time for Portugal to find the back of the net after the two squads entered halftime knotted at nil. 

Portugal's first conversion came on a gorgeous strike from Gonçalo Paciência, when the forward drilled a ball from outside the box into the right side of the net past the outstretched arms of Gerónimo Rulli. 

Then, with time winding down in regulation, Pité Trabulo provided the icing on the cake when he lofted in a a fairly harmless shot on goal that was too much for Rulli to handle.

The 84th-minute gaffe sent Argentina tumbling to fourth place in the group, and provided the team with a tall task as it attempts to make up for a poor start to the tournament. 

Next up for Argentina is a meeting with Algeria on Aug. 7, while Portugal is slated to square off against Honduras the same day.  

Nigeria 5, Japan 4

Bruno Zanardo/Getty Images

Nigeria may have landed in Rio Thursday after experiencing extensive flight delays in advance of Thursday's Olympic opener against Japan, but the Super Eagles were strong enough to notch a 5-4 win over Japan thanks to four goals from Oghenekaro Etebo. 

Although Japan kept pace with Nigeria over the game's first 11 minutes as each side netted two goals apiece during that brief span, the Super Eagles mounted a 4-2 lead just six minutes into the second half thanks to Etebo's brilliance. 

The 20-year-old netted his hat trick thanks to a conversion from the penalty spot in the 51st minute, and he added another goal in the 66th minute for good measure. 

That tally proved to be crucial, too, because Japan struck back with goals in the 70th minute and in the waning seconds of added time to fall just one goal shy of securing a tie. 

Nigeria and Japan will both be back in action on Sunday when they attempt to quell Sweden and Colombia, respectively.