Brazil national under-23 football team competition. The game was marred by numerous fouls and two ejections for Brazil. Argentina won 3–0. In the bronze medal match, Brazil beat Belgium 3–0. Brazil, under coach Mano Menezes, was defeated by Mexico 2–1 in the gold medal match, played on 11 August, after beating 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. Brazil finished in the first position in the group stage, ahead of Denmark (won 4–0), Iraq (tied 0–0) and South Africa (tied 0–0).
Brazil at the 2004 Summer Olympics not surpass its previous records set in Atlanta (15 medals) and Sydney (12 medals), Brazil produced a record of 5 golds at these edition, a performance only surpassed 12 years later in Rio de Janeiro, when Brazil was the host country and won 7 gold medals. Three of these medals in Athens were awarded to the team in beach and indoor volleyball, and two each in judo and sailing. Brazil's team-based athletes proved particularly successful in Athens, as the men's indoor volleyball team (led by Gilberto Godoy Filho) and the women's football team (led by Formiga) won gold and silver