SM
Arsenal vs. Man United: 8 hrs 29 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data
Olympic Games Men's Football | Group Stage
Jul 24, 2024 at 2pm UK
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard

Argentina U23s
1 - 2
Morocco U23s

Simeone (68')
Fernandez (89'), Di Cesare (90+9')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Rahimi (45+2', 51' pen.)
Akhomach (39'), El Khannous (45+3'), El Ouahdi (61'), Rahimi (70'), Targhalline (87'), Munir (89')

Preview: Argentina Under-23s vs. Morocco Under-23s - prediction, team news, lineups

:Headline: Preview: Argentina Under-23s vs. Morocco Under-23s - prediction, team news, lineups:
Sports Mole previews Wednesday's Olympic Games Men's Football clash between Argentina Under-23s and Morocco Under-23s, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sports Mole

The Men's Olympic Football Tournament at the Paris 2024 Games kicks off on Wednesday afternoon when Argentina square off against Morocco for their opening Group B match at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne.

Argentina are striving to replicate the success of the senior team who have won a World Cup and two Copa America titles over the last four years, while Morocco will endeavour to emulate the heroics of the first-team squad that reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.


Match preview

Argentina are gearing up for their 10th appearance at the Olympic Games and will be aiming to improve on their efforts at Tokyo 2020 where they failed to advance from the group stage after being pipped to a top-two finish by Egypt via goal difference.

La Albiceleste are regarded as one of the favourites to triumph this time around in Paris and are managed by a proven winner in former Liverpool and Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano, who won gold as a player at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, and has been in charge of Argentina's youth side since 2021.

South American countries have dominated the Men's Olympic Football Tournament in recent years, winning four of the last five gold medals, including two for Argentina and two for Brazil - the latter have won the last two tournaments but failed to qualify for Paris 2024, meaning that Argentina and Paraguay are flying the flag for South America this time around.

Since finishing second, behind Paraguay, in the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament in mid-February, Argentina have taken part in two friendly matches to prepare for the Paris Games, beginning with a thumping 5-0 victory over Petrus Flo, a team made up of French players currently without a club.

However, Argentina suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat to Guinea with a full-strength squad in their final warm-up match on Saturday, not an ideal result ahead of what could prove to be a tricky test against Morocco on Wednesday.

The 2024 Paris Olympics will represent the eighth time that Morocco have taken part in the Men's Football Tournament and the first since they competed at London 2012 where they failed to progress from the group stage.

Morocco have qualified for this year's tournament after winning the 2023 Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations under former boss Issame Charai, who was 'bizarrely' relieved of his duties in March after losing three friendlies out of five at the backend of 2023 and later replaced by current head coach Tarik Sektioui, formerly of Porto in his playing days.

Sektioui has taken over a Morocco side who are currently ranked as fourth favourites with the bookmakers' to claim a gold medal in Paris; they will be aiming to secure at least a top-two finish in Group B and advance beyond the first phase for the first time since the 1972 Olympics when they reached the second round in Munich.

The Atlas Lions have taken part in three friendlies since the arrival of Sektioui, most recently playing out a 2-2 draw with Belgium in June after previously beating Wales 2-0 and losing 1-0 to Ukraine in May.

Argentina Under-23s friendly form:
  • W
  • L

Morocco Under-23s friendly form:
  • L
  • W
  • D


Team News

Argentina's 18-man squad includes four 2022 World Cup winners in Julian Alvarez, Nicolas Otamendi, Geronimo Rulli and Thiago Almada - the former three were also part of the senior squad that triumphed at the 2024 Copa America earlier this month.

Thirty-six-year-old Otamendi - one of three players in Mascherano's squad over the age of 23 - will provide the experience in a back four set to contain Gonzalo Lujan, Marco Di Cesare and Bruno Amione.

Santiago Hezze, who won the Europa Conference League with Olympiacos last season, could link arms with Almada and either Cristian Medina or Ezequiel Fernandez in centre-midfield, while Alvarez could be supported in attack by Kevin Zenon and Giuliano Simeone.

As for Morocco, every member of Sektioui has taken part in training this week except for Bologna's Oussama El Azzouzi, who is expected to link up with his teammates in the coming days.

The standout name in Morocco's squad is Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi, who is expected to play at right-back, while Saint-Etienne's Benjamin Bouchouari, Villarreal's Ilias Akhomach and Real Betis' Abde Ezzalzouli are also set to feature in the first XI.


Argentina Under-23s possible starting lineup:
Rulli; Lujan, Di Cesare, Otamendi, Amione; Almada, Hezze, Medina; Zenon, Alvarez, Simeone

Morocco Under-23s possible starting lineup:
Mohamedi; Hakimi, El Wafi, Boukamir, Nakach; Targhalline, Bouchouari, Richardson; Akhomach, Rahimi, Ezzalzouli



We say: Argentina Under-23s 2-1 Morocco Under-23s

These two nations will be the favourites to secure a top-two finish in Group B, ahead of Iraq and Ukraine, and success for either side in Wednesday's fixture would put them in the driving seat to finish at the summit.

Argentina cannot take Morocco lightly in what could prove to be a closely-fought contest, but we expect the South Americans to prevail by a narrow scoreline.



For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.




body check tags ::

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


amp_article__548754 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2024-07-22 15:09:00:
html db last update - 2024-07-22 15:09:00 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html
Read more!
Share this article now:


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Recommended Next on SM
Two Man City players named in Argentina squad for 2024 Paris Olympics
Man United 'place highly-rated teenage star' on attacking shortlist
Yoro is back! When could Man United centre-back make his debut?
Olympics 2024 medals: Every gold medal won during the Paris Games
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1311112681834
2Arsenal1374226141225
3Chelsea1374226141225
4Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton136522217523
5Manchester CityMan City137242219323
6Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest136431613322
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1362528141420
8Brentford136252623320
9Manchester UnitedMan Utd135441713419
10Fulham135441818019
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle135441414019
12Aston Villa135441922-319
13Bournemouth135352019118
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham144371827-915
15Leicester CityLeicester143471928-913
16Crystal Palace142661218-612
17Everton132561021-1111
18Wolverhampton WanderersWolves132382232-109
19Ipswich TownIpswich141671325-129
20Southampton1312101025-155
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

Man United wonderkid in line for spectacular debut vs. Arsenal

NEW

1

MU

Wednesday's Premier League predictions including Arsenal vs. Man United

2

WP

Palmer looking to break Chelsea Premier League record in Southampton game

NEW

3

PL

Preview: Atalanta vs. AC Milan - prediction, team news, lineups

NEW

4

PA

Barcelona 'ready to battle' Real Madrid for Man United star

5

B'

All-time PL combined XI: Man Utd vs. Arsenal

6

AP

Man United 'place highly-rated teenage star' on attacking shortlist

7

MU

Wednesday's DFB-Pokal predictions including Leipzig vs. Frankfurt

8

WD

Wednesday's League One predictions including Birmingham vs. Stockport

9

WL

Preview: Bournemouth vs. Spurs - prediction, team news, lineups

10

PB


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .