We are still a few days from the Paris 2024 Olympics officially getting underway but while we wait for the multitude of events to get started we have the men’s football kicking off with a full fixture list across France on Wednesday.
All 16 teams will be opening their account over the course of a day which has four different kick off times with two matches in each of them so if you have a couple of devices there is no reason not to watch a whole day of international football.
Group A
We begin Group A in the second of the two kick off slots as the lower ranked sides in the section battle it out in Nice where Guinea will make their debut in the Olympics when they host regular attendees in New Zealand. That is a fair starter but the main course comes in the last of the kick off times when the hosts France get their assault at the gold medal underway when they go up against USA in what could well turn out to be the pick of the matches on the opening day of the tournament.
Group B
Group B actually gets the tournament underway in Saint-Etienna as the Copa America champions Argentina start their campaign for an international competition double in the space of a month when they go up against a Morocco side who are the second favourites to come out of the group. We then head to Lyon for the second match in Group B which comes in the third of the kick off slots as Iraq compete in the football event at the Olympics for the first time in eight years when they take on Ukraine who make their debut here.
Group C
Group C is the other group which gets up and running in the first kick off slot on the day when one of the tournament favourites Spain open up their campaign in the host city Paris when they face an Uzbekistan side who make their Olympic debut in a lofty slot in the draw due to the previous record of South Korea in the event. Egypt will be the team most fancied to chase Spain home in this section and they will know if that is going to happen then their match against Dominican Republic in Nantes is one they must win.
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Group D
We wait for the last two kick off slots for the action in Group D to come along on Wednesday evening and when it does we start out with the two leading lights in the section meeting in Bordeaux as Japan begin their quest for the medals when they take on an underrated Paraguay side. The last game to kick off in this group does so in the host city as the Parc des Princes plays host to the match between the quarter finalists in Athens in Mali and a controversial entrant Israel.
Betting
I’ll open my Olympic betting spree with a couple of bets on the opening day of the football with the first one coming in the form of Guinea to cover a -1 Asian line against a limited New Zealand outfit who are really only here because Australia have headed off to the Asian territory as far as international football goes. They only have to stay upright to qualify for this but I think now that they are here they are going to get found out and that can happen immediately against a Guinea side who have a lot of midfield power in their ranks with their three overaged players being Naby Keita, Abdoulaye Toure and Amadou Diawara, who have over 100 senior caps for their country combined. Guinea warmed up for this tournament with a 1-0 win over Argentina last week and although one or two key Argentina players weren’t involved that is still a decent result. This is a chance for New Zealand to show that they are better than their easy qualifying period suggests but once this Guinea midfield find their range I expect them to dominate the game and I see a comfortable African win here.
I actually think that this is going to be a fairly high scoring tournament and one of the matches where goals can flow relatively regularly is the one between France and USA in Marseille. There should be a decent crowd in for this match and the France attacking unit which contains Alexandre Lacazette, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Michael Olise and Rennes forward Arnaud Kalimuendo can open up their campaign in a high scoring game with a USA outfit who take these things very seriously and are looking to build up a squad of players that can do some damage at the next World Cup which is in their country. USA have a lot of attacking players in their ranks including Duncan McGuire who has been a target for Championship clubs throughout 2024. This is a match which should have plenty of front foot football in it and so over 2.75 goals appeals here.
Tips
Back Guinea (-1AH) to beat New Zealand for a 3/10 stake at 2.03 with Bet365
Back France vs USA – Over 2.75 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
