See the Olympic Betting Soccer preview! It’s been 24 years since the U.S. sent a men’s soccer team to the knockout rounds at the Summer Olympics.
Despite taking a 3-0 beating from France in the group play opener, the Americans righted the ship and routed New Zealand, 4-1, and Guinea, 3-0, to take second place in Group A. The reward is a date with Morocco in the quarterfinals.
Against Guinea, Djordje Mihailovic, one of the three overage players each team is permitted, started the scoring with a sweet free kick in the 14th minute, bent over the wall and into the corner of the net.
A change that coach Marko Mitrovic made for the group play finale was putting Griffin Yow up top with Kevin Paredes and Paxten Aaronson, which led to all sorts of offensive activity.
It’s likely that the lineup will look similar against Morocco. Read our soccer betting predictions for each of the four quarterfinal matches.
Olympic Betting Soccer: Men’s Soccer Quarterfinals Preview | Tuesday, July 30
Morocco +125 vs United States +210
Friday, August 2, 8:00 am ET / Draw +230
The United States are the underdogs here, but they come in riding a two-match winning streak in which they have dispatched New Zealand and Guinea by a combined 7-1 score. However, they only won two of their six warm-ups ahead of the Olympics and were demolished, 3-0, by France in their group play opener.
Morocco opened group play with a shocking 2-1 upset of Argentina, and they finished group play with a 3-0 shellacking of Iraq to give them the Group B crown.
Amir Richardson scored in the 19th minute to get the offense going, and Abde Ezzalzouli of Real Betis renown and Soufiane Rahimi rounded out the offense.
Rahimi has four goals in three matches. The setback against Ukraine in the second group match was the only blemish.
Olympic Soccer Pick: United States to win.
^Japan +300 vs Spain -105
Friday, August 2, 10:00 am ET / Draw +240
Japan rolled to a perfect 3-0 record to win Group D, while Spain finished behind Egypt as Group C runners-up.
So how are Spain the favorites? Well, Spain ran into Egypt’s Ibrahim Adel, who found the back of the net twice.
Spain got one back from Samu Omorodion in injury time. Japan did beat Spain at the London Games in 2012, but Spain got revenge in the semifinals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, in a 1-0 win thanks to an extra-time goal from Marco Asensio.
Japan scored seven goals in three matches without permitting any in return, starting with a 5-0 rout of Paraguay.
They beat Mali and Israel, 1-0, with both goals coming in the last ten minutes.
I expect Spain to fix the issues on defense that let Egypt run a bit wild and stop a Japan side that had the most manageable group.
Olympic Soccer Pick: Spain to win.
^Egypt +205 vs Paraguay +140
Friday, August 2, 12:00 pm ET / Draw +230
Yes, Egypt beat Spain, but it’s also worth noting that Spain had some reserves out there as they were already through to the quarterfinals.
In the 2020 Games, Egypt made it to the quarterfinals, where they fell to Brazil – the eventual gold-medal winners.
Paraguay bounced back from that 5-0 shelling at the hands of Japan, beating Israel, 4-2 and then edging Mali, 1-0, making an early tally from Marcelo Fernandez stand.
The last time Paraguay reached the Olympic quarterfinals was 2004, when they took silver in Athens. Their coach then, Carlos Jara Saguier, is manning the sidelines again, this time at the age of 73.
Olympic Soccer Pick: Egypt to win.
^France +105 vs Argentina +260
Friday, August 2, 2:00 pm ET / Draw +240
Like Japan, France won their three group-play matches by a combined score of 7-0.
After they beat the United States, 3-0, their offense retreated a bit against Guinea, whom they only beat 1-0, with a goal that came scarily late, in the 75th minute.
Against New Zealand, Jean-Philippe Mateta got the first goal for France before the intermission in group play, and two more after the break made it a laugher.
France has not made the Olympic quarterfinals since 1996 and have not won a knockout round game since 1984, when they won the whole thing. They also got to give their regulars some rest against New Zealand.
Argentina recovered from that controversial opening loss to Morocco by dispatching Iraq and Ukraine.
Thiago Almada scored first in both of those wins. Now they are in the quarterfinals of an Olympics for the first time since 2008, when they won gold.
The host nation has the advantage of rest here, as Argentina had to fight hard in their third group-play match to advance.
Olympic Soccer Pick: France to win.
^Olympic Tournament 2024: Soccer Women Winner
- USA +149
- Spain +149
- France +550
- Germany +1000
- Japan +1200
- Canada +1400
- Brazil +2500
- Colombia +3300
Team USA men's soccer is going to the Olympic quarterfinals for the first time in 24 years https://t.co/pHN7FW1dGf
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) July 31, 2024
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