Men's Olympic Football: Four Tips For The Medal Games
We have now reached the medal games at the Olympics men’s football tournament after the semi-finals were held earlier this week.
Hosts France, the favourites with the UK betting sites, came from behind to beat Egypt in extra time.
In Friday's final, they will take on Spain, who also recovered from conceding the first goal to overcome Morocco.
The bronze medal match will take place on Thursday, as the two aforementioned north African nations fight it out for a podium finish.
Gambling.com’s experts on The Panel have checked out the latest odds for the two medal matches and picked out two tips for each of them.
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Men's Olympic Football Predictions
- Morocco To Beat Egypt at 17/20 With Unibet
- Both Morocco And Egypt To Score & Over 2.5 Total Goal At 6/5 With Bet365
- Spain To Beat France And Win The Gold Medal At 11/10 With Coral
- Spain Vs France: Under 2.5 Total Goals At 8/13 With Bet365
Egypt Vs Morocco, Thursday 4pm
Despite missing out on the final, both of these national teams should be proud of their performances in France.
Third-place play-offs are often dismissed in football tournaments, this one is hugely significant, as neither nation has ever won an Olympic medal.
Morocco begin as the favourites on betting apps. Ever since their shock 2-1 victory over Argentina on matchday one of the group stage, the Atlas Lions have been a wonderful addition to this tournament.
That victory set them on the way to top spot in Group B, after which they thrashed the USA 4-0 in the quarter-finals. Even last time out they gave Spain a scare before losing narrowly.
Egypt have also been excellent. They beat a weakened Spain side in their final group game to advance in top spot, before squeezing past Paraguay on penalties in the last eight.
But they have not quite been as impressive as Morocco, who we fancy to win bronze on Thursday.
The Panel Tip 1: Morocco To Beat Egypt - 17/20 With Unibet
Morocco And Egypt To Entertain
Morocco have been thoroughly entertaining over the last couple of weeks.
They took the game to Argentina despite being underdogs, storming into a 2-0 lead and then holding off a fightback from their opponents.
In 3-0 and 4-0 victories over Iraq and the USA respectively, Morocco played some fine attacking football.
Egypt have not played on the front foot to the same extent. The Pharoahs started with a 0-0 draw with the Dominican Republic and followed that up with a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan.
With a bronze medal up for grabs, Egypt may have to take a few more risks here.
Over 2.5 total goals has been a winning bet in all five of Morocco’s games this summer and this one could follow suit, with both sides finding the back of the net too.
The Panel Tip 2: Both Morocco And Egypt To Score & Over 2.5 Total Goals - 6/5 With Bet365
France Vs Spain, Friday 5pm
France are one win away from claiming their first gold medal since 1984 and this is already their most succesful Olympic campaign since that triumph.
The French failed to qualify between 2000 and 2016, then crashed out in the group phase in Toyko three years ago.
With the bulk of the fans behind them in Paris on Friday, France are within touching distance of glory.
They must get past a strong Spain side first though. Were it not for home advantage, one could argue that Spain would be favourites for this clash on football betting sites.
La Roja may have finished second in their group, but that was because a heavily-rotated team lost 2-1 to Egypt on matchday three after the Spanish had already qualified.
Spain then breezed past Japan in the quarter-finals, before beating dark horses Morocco last time out.
They have strong credentials and, provided they can weather the storm of facing France on home soil, Spain have the quality to add an Olympic title to the Euro success secured by the senior squad earlier this summer.
The Panel Tip 3: Spain To Win The Gold Medal - 11/10 With Coral
One Goal Might Be Enough To Win The Final
With the gold medal up for grabs, this promises to be an absorbing affair - but not necessarily a high-scoring one.
When the stakes are this high, both teams will be wary of taking unnecessary risks.
With one goal potentially enough to win Friday’s final, both managers will emphasise the importance of keeping things tight at the back in their pre-match team talks.
This bet would have paid out in both of France’s matches in the knockout stage, with two of their goals against Egypt coming in extra time (bets of this nature only cover 90 minutes).
Spain’s games have been higher-scoring, albeit with late goals against both Japan and Morocco in the quarters and semis respectively.
Go for under 2.5 goals in the final if you have a free bet to use.
The Panel Tip 4: Spain Vs France: Under 2.5 Total Goals - 8/13 With Bet365
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