The group stage of the men’s Olympic football tournament conclude at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Wednesday and amazingly heading into the final set of matches not a single team have made it through to the quarter finals and only one of them have been eliminated.
That makes for an exciting morning and afternoon of action for those of us in the UK and anyone wanting to watch it will be able to do so via the Eurosport Player app which is covering every event at these games.
Group A
The big match in Group A sees the tournament hosts Japan taking on France with the home side needing a draw to guarantee their progress in the event. France need to better the Mexico result if they are to make it through to the knockout stages. Should Mexico beat South Africa, which they will be expected to do, then France are not only going to need to win that match but they will have to do it by two goals in order to overcome Japan on goal difference. A Mexico win guarantees they go through while South Africa need to win big and hope Japan beat France.
Group B
The equation is a little simpler in Group B as all four sides go into the matches on Wednesday with three points to their name. That means the two winners on Wednesday will move through to the quarter final. It gets a little more complicated if there is a draw. South Korea take on Honduras in one of the two matches while New Zealand meet Romania in the other. Because of goal difference a draw guarantees South Korea are through but the other three all need to win to guarantee their progression.
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Group C
The pick of the final group matches comes along in Group C where a couple of footballing heavyweights meet in a pivotal battle as Spain take on Argentina. Spain are through with a draw in this match while Argentina will have to win to be sure of their place in the quarter finals but they will also be through if they better the result of Australia. The problem for Argentina is that Australia face a winless Egypt side although they too can qualify if they win and Spain beat Argentina.
Group D
Saudi Arabia are the only side in the competition who are out before the final set of matches. That is probably music to the ears of Brazil who will win the group if they can see off the Saudis in their match. The other game in the group is pretty much a straight knockout as the Ivory Coast take on Germany with the Germans having to win to make it through to the next round. A draw would be enough for the Ivory Coast to knock the Rio silver medallists out.
Betting
I’ll take a couple of bets over the course of the day in these matches. The first of those is on New Zealand to beat Romania. I’ve not been that impressed by Romania in this competition and they go into the match off the back of a brutal beating by South Korea after being the beneficiaries of an own goal to win their opening match against Honduras. New Zealand beat South Korea in their first match and were edged out late on against Honduras but they haven’t played badly. This Romania side is much different to the one which qualified with certain players not selected or not been made available and I think that has shown so far. I fancy New Zealand on the handicap lines here.
I’m also expecting to see goals in the later match between the hosts Japan and one of the fancied runners France. France have to go searching for goals as if Mexico beat South Africa in the other match, which seems likely, they are going to have to win this match by a couple of goals if they are going to make it through. Japan only need to draw this match but they can’t really afford to play for a point as this is a French side with plenty of danger. The Japanese side at this level have been renowned for attacking and going after goals and with France potentially leaving themselves open I see goals coming at both ends and coming regularly.
Tips
Back New Zealand (+0.25AH) to beat Romania for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
Back Japan vs France – Over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with Betfair
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