Iraq Ol. vs Ukraine Ol. prediction: WORLD: Olympic Games betting tips on match 2024-07-23 17:00.
[p]After a stunning fourth-placed finish at the 2004 Olympics, Iraq have struggled to make an impact on this stage since, failing to qualify in 2008, 2012 and 2020 while suffering elimination at the group stage in 2016. Incentivised by previous shortcomings, the Lions of Babylon will be looking to impress in Paris, having reached this summer’s tournament by coming third in the AFC U-23 Asian Cup earlier this year. [/p]
[p]Manager Radhi Shenaishil has named a 22-man squad with few household names to tackle this tournament as they look to progress from a daunting group containing both Argentina and Morocco. Despite being clear outsiders to advance, Shenaishil may draw some comfort from the fact that 17 members of his squad play their club football domestically, with that familiarity potentially crucial against their more illustrious opponents in the group stage.[/p]
[p]They open their campaign against Ukraine, who have qualified for their first-ever Olympic football tournament after reaching the semi-finals of last year’s UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Building on that success, they won the Maurice Revello tournament earlier this summer, meaning that they head into this match against Iraq on an eight-game unbeaten run (W6, D2). [/p]
[p]However, Ukraine have been unable to call up Mykhailo Mudryk as Chelsea want him to take part in pre-season, while national team manager Ruslan Rotan has chosen to select only two overage players in his squad: the relatively inexperienced Maksym Talovyerov and Dmytro Kryskiv, although the former did compete at this summer’s UEFA Euro 2024. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Ali Jasim was the top scorer at the U-23 Asian Cup that resulted in Iraq securing their passage to the Olympics, with the 20-year-old having directly contributed to eight goals in his last seven matches at international level for the senior and youth sides. As one of only three players to reach double figures in the Ukrainian Premier League scoring charts in 2023/24, Danylo Sikan will fancy his chances of making a big impression at this tournament. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Iraq’s U23 side haven’t drawn any of their last 12 matches (W7, L5). [/p]