France Ol. vs Guinea Ol. prediction: WORLD: Olympic Games betting tips on match 2024-07-26 19:00.
[p]One of the pre-tournament favourites, confidence continued to grow that France can end their 40-year wait for a men’s football gold medal at the Olympics after the hosts routed the USA 3-0 on matchday one. Les Bleus have reached at least the quarter-finals on the two previous occasions that they have hosted the Games, a feat they’re almost guaranteed to replicate should they win against Guinea in their next fixture.[/p]
[p]This campaign is already a marked improvement on Tokyo 2020 however, when France were beaten 4-1 by Mexico in their first fixture and eventually eliminated before the last-eight. Thierry Henry’s side appear a different beast by comparison, as they head to Nice looking to extend a strong run of three wins in four outings (D1), scoring a whopping 15 goals in the process![/p]
[p]Standing in their way are Guinea, who suffered a gut-wrenching 2-1 defeat against New Zealand on matchday one. Led by former Arsenal striker Kaba Diawara, the National Elephants saw a goal disallowed for offside on what was their first appearance at the Olympic football tournament since 1968, leaving them with an uphill task if they’re to defy the odds and qualify for the quarter-finals.[/p]
[p]The omens aren’t great however, as Guinea were also beaten by France on their only previous Olympic football showing, going down 3-1 to Les Bleus in Mexico! They did however cause an upset in a pre-tournament warm-up game against Argentina, running out 1-0 victory despite being heavy outsiders, meaning they can’t be discounted despite carrying the same underdog tag here. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: France winger Michael Olise has scored four goals across his last three appearances, with each of those strikes coming after half-time. Leading the way for Guinea is former Liverpool midfielder Naby KeĂŻta, who captains the National Elephants and has seen ten of his last 11 international goals – all of them at senior level – serve as the first or last of the game.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: France have not won back-to-back group games at the Olympics since 1976.[/p]
[p]Written by Matt Jones[/p]