France v Argentina Betting Tips [2 August 2024]
Football - Men's Olympic Tournament
2 August 2024 15:00
The match
France U23 will take on Argentina U23 on. Friday in one of the football quarter-finals at the 2024 Olympic Games. Hosts France had a perfect run in the first round, topping Group A while Argentina finished second in Group B. Here’s our preview for the match and a prediction.
With a semi-final showdown against Egypt or Paraguay next, France will be eyeing the right to feature in the final four. Home support has been key for Thierry Henry’s charges, who are yet to concede a goal at this competition.
A 3-0 win over New Zealand was the pointer to their ruthlessness, France scoring a total seven goals in the group stage. They are now undefeated in the last nine matches, winning seven of them. Five of their wins came with clean sheets. As it is, France have already improved on their shambolic Tokyo 2020 performance.
As France seek their second Olympic gold, Argentina are on the quest for their third. This game will mark the first meeting between the two nations. The South Americans had a shaky start to this year’s competition, courted with controversy as they lost 2-1 to Morocco.
They would, however, recover to post straight wins in the ensuing two group matches. The most recent, against Ukraine, presented their first clean sheet as they won 2-0. Javier Mascherano’s side doesn’t have a lot of those.
In their last seven matches, Argentina managed just two clean sheets. After winning back-to-back golds in 2004 and 2008, Argentina’s form at the Olympics hasn’t been great. Across their nine matches in the last three appearances, they managed just four wins and two clean sheets.
Key Statistics
- Argentina have three wins in their last seven matches.
- France are unbeaten in their last nine matches, winning seven.
- France have three straight wins at the current Summer Games.
- In their last nine Olympics matches, Argentina failed to win in five.
- Argentina have conceded two or more goals in four of their last seven outings.
The bet of our experts
Argentina’s charge for a third gold at the Olympic Games hasn’t had the smooth run they expected but some stability can be reported. Facing hosts France is a massive step up from the kind of opposition they met in the group stage.
Argentina, having also been shaky in defence, will need to be at their best here. France, on their part, have incorporated home support and their superiority on the field well so far. Our prediction for France U23 v Argentina U23 will be for France U23 to win.
