France Ol. vs Argentina Ol. prediction: WORLD: Olympic Games – Play Offs betting tips on match 2024-08-01 19:00.
[p]Aiming to become the third host nation to win gold since 1992, France breezed through Group A, beating New Zealand 3-0 on matchday three to maintain their 100% record and seal top spot in the process. Les Blues have only achieved a podium finish in the Olympics twice, crowned champions in the USA in 1984, but one of those came on home soil as runners-up back in 1900 – in that sense, they’ll very much be hoping that history can repeat itself.[/p]
[p]Thierry Henry’s side are one of just two nations in this summer’s tournament to have won all three of their group games, and are also one of two who are yet to concede having kept an impressive three clean sheets. Notably, in that last group game against New Zealand, the host nation netted their maiden first-half goal of the tournament, with the other six of their strikes all arriving after half-time. [/p]
[p]Quarter-final opponents Argentina had to earn their qualification the hard way, being one of just three teams to lose their opening game but still get through to the knockouts. Javier Mascherano’s side were beaten by Morocco on matchday one, and having ended the group stage with an identical record to the African outfit, it was that H2H record which saw the South Americans finish as runners-up in Group B.[/p]
[p]Boss Mascherano was a two-time gold medal winner as a player, forming part of the squads which triumphed in Athens in 2004 and in Beijing four years later, but that 2008 success is the last time Argentina had a podium finish. Following on from the French trend, the points they picked up in the group stage were largely courtesy of late goals, scoring at least once after the hour in all three games to date and netting twice in the final five minutes.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: New Bayern Munich recruit Michael Olise registered three goal involvements in the group stage (G1, A2) for France. Expect a fast start from Thiago Almada – he netted the opener in both of Argentina’s group stage victories.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: France averaged seven shots on target across their three group games, while Argentina averaged over five, so expect both ‘keepers to be busy! [/p]
[p][i]Written by Ben Olawumi[/i][/p]