Men's Olympic Football Tips: Back Spain to claim gold against France at Evens | OneFootball

Olympics

Can the Spain U23 manager Santi Denia point his team towards Olympic glory?

Dan Fitch is backing Spain to win gold against France and Morocco to win bronze, as he previews the medal-deciding matches in the men's Olympic football tournament.

Egypt v Morocco (Thursday, 16:00)

North African rivals Egypt and Morocco meet in Nantes with a bronze medal on the line.

Neither nation has won an Olympic football medal before and when you throw in their historic rivalry, this is a game that has much riding on it, with an added element of edge.

Both countries were ahead in their semi-finals, against the favourites in those clashes. Morocco went 1-0 up against Spain through the tournament's top scorer Soufiane Rahimi, who now has six goals. The Spanish fought back to win 2-1.

This Olympic campaign follows on from Morocco reaching the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup. The U23 team also beat Egypt in the final of the Under-23 Africa Cup on Nations last year, which is a highly relevant result to this encounter.

Mahmoud Saber's goal for Egypt looked set to be enough for them to eliminate the hosts France, until they conceded a 83rd minute equaliser. They would eventually let in two more during extra time, to lose 3-1.

The Egyptians can only wonder what might have happened if they had not been reduced to 10-men, on the verge of full-time, when Omar Fayed was sent off. Nevertheless, they can be encouraged at how close they came to pulling off a major shock, having already beaten Spain in the group stage.

Though Egypt pose a threat in this match, it is Morocco that are favoured to win bronze. They have the extra firepower and experience in the form of quality overage players such as Rahimi and Achraf Hakimi. Back Morocco to win and both teams to score at 13/5.

France v Spain (Friday, 17:00)

The final of the men's Olympic football tournament looks set to be worthy of the occasion, as the host nation France take on the recent European champions Spain.

France will have the advantage of the home crowd cheering them on at the Parc des Princes in Paris, while Spain should be slightly fresher, having won against Morocco without the need for extra time.

Fermin Lopez is proving to be Spain's key player at these Olympics, having been part of the squad that won the Euro 2024 this summer. The Barcelona midfielder scored the equaliser against Morocco, which was his fourth goal in the tournament.

It was the Sevilla full-back Juanlu who came off the bench to score the decisive goal for Spain. The Spanish have shown that they have players that are capable of scoring from all over the pitch, with their eleven goals having been shared between eight different players.

France also had to pull off a comeback in their semi-final against Morocco. The French are benefitting from the relationship between the former Crystal Palace teammates Jean-Philippe Mateta, who scored twice and Michael Olise, who added the third in a 3-1 win.

Mateta now has four goals in this tournament and forms part of a dangerous front three with Olise and Alexandre Lacazette. Egypt's goal was the first that France had conceded in this competition, having previously kept four clean sheets.

worth backing as the outsiders to win gold, at 1/1.

Back Morocco to beat Egypt and both teams to score @ 13/5Back Spain to lift the trophy against France @ 1/1