Brazil national under-23 football team was beaten by Mexico 0–1 after extra time, denying Brazil the chance to be the first guest team to win the tournament. The following year Brazil failed to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games after losing out to Paraguay and Argentina in the qualifying tournament. Brazil, managed by senior team coach, Dunga, finished in the first position in the group stage, ahead of Belgium, New Zealand and China, which they beat 1–0, 5–0 and 3–0 respectively. In the second round, Brazil beat Cameroon 2–0 after extra time. Brazil and Argentina met on August 19 in the semi-final game of the
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