Iraq and Ukraine do battle at Stade de Lyon in their opening Group B fixture of the Men's Olympic Football Tournament at the Paris 2024 Games on Wednesday.
These two nations are joined in their group by both Argentina and Morocco, who are considered the favourites to progress to the knockout rounds.
Match preview
The 2024 Paris Olympics will represent the sixth time that Iraq have taken part in the Men's Football Tournament and the first since they competed at Rio 2016 where they failed to progress from the group stage.
Iraq have qualified for this year's tournament after advancing to the semi-finals and finishing third at the 2024 AFC Under-23 Asian Cup under the tutelage of Radhi Shenaishil, who has spent almost two years in charge of the national team.
Shenaishil has denied reports from a couple of months ago that he had submitted his resignation and has insisted that he is determined to lead Iraq in Paris, with the 58-year-old expected to implement a philosophy focused on fast counter-attacks and making the most of set-pieces situation.
Nicknamed the Lions of Mesopotamia, Iraq head into their opening group-stage match after losing 2-1 to Egypt in a friendly fixture last Wednesday; Shenaishil's side had previously won four games out of six at the 2024 AFC Under-23 Asian Cup between mid-April and early May.
Ukraine, meanwhile, are preparing for their eighth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-Soviet era, but this year's Games will be their first competing at the Men's Olympics Football Tournament.
The Blue and Yellow have qualified for the Paris Games after advancing to the semi-finals of the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, finishing second in their group and beating France in the quarter-finals before being thrashed 5-1 by Spain in the last four.
Ruslan Rotan earned 100 caps for Ukraine as a player and has since been a national team youth coach for the past six years, initially working with the Under-18s before working up to his current role with the Under-23s, winning five of his eight games in charge since March.
Ukraine have taken part in two friendly matches to prepare for the Paris Games, playing out a 1-1 draw with Egypt before drawing 2-2 with Paraguay last Thursday. Although Rotan has suggested that he cannot be fully satisfied with those warm-up results, the 42-year-old has insisted that his players are "ready" for their opening group-stage fixture.
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Team News
Iraq's Ali Jasim has been a standout performer for the Under-23s since making his debut almost a year ago, directly contributing to 11 goals (seven goals, four assists) in as many matches, including four goals scored at the 2024 AFC Under-23 Asian Cup to win the Golden Boot.
The 20-year-old is expected to operate in the number 10 role behind central striker Aymen Hussein, while 30-year-old Saad Natiq, Heerenveen's Hussein Ali and Zaid Tahseen - who scored in the friendly defeat to Egypt last week - could also be named in the first XI.
As for Ukraine, Rotan revealed after the draw with Paraguay that "several players have minor injuries" but stated that they were "insignificant" and is confident that he will have a fully-fit squad available to him on Wednesday.
Two players who are lacking match fitness, however, are right-back Oleksiy Sych and centre-back Arseniy Batagov who are both late arrivals to the squad and so are unlikely to be thrown straight into the starting lineup against Iraq.
Maksym Talovierov, who was part of Ukraine's Euro 2024 squad, could be handed a start in the back four, while Oleg Fedor and Maksym Khlan - who both scored in the draw with Paraguay - are also in contention to start, as is goalkeeper Kiril Fesyun who saved two penalties in the same friendly.
Iraq Under-23s possible starting lineup:
Hasan; Saadoon, Tahseen, Al Iman, Maknzi; M. Mohammed, Al-Mukhtar; N. Mohammed, Jasim, Hassan; Hussein
Ukraine Under-23s possible starting lineup:
Fesyun; Martynyuk, Talovierov, Salyuk, Krupskyi; Rubchynskyi, Mykhailenko, Kryskiv; Khlan, Bragaru, Sikan
We say: Iraq Under-23s 1-2 Ukraine Under-23s
There is little to separate these two nations seeking to make a positive start on matchday one in their quest to secure a top-two finish in Group B. Both sides have the potential to cause each other problems in the final third, but we are backing Ukraine to edge this contest in Lyon.
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