NaijaBet Match Preview: France Under-23s vs. USA Under-23s
A potential battle for Group A supremacy will commence on Wednesday, as France and the USA begin their Paris 2024 Olympics campaigns in the men’s football tournament.
The Games hosts welcome their transatlantic counterparts to the Orange Velodrome in Marseille, while Guinea and New Zealand also seek to upset the Olympic apple cart.
Frequent knockout participants in the Olympic men’s football tournament decades ago, the France team of 1984 stormed their way to their first and only gold medal in the competition so far, which preceded several years in the Games wilderness.
The 2024 hosts astonishingly failed to qualify for the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 editions before finally making their first 21st-century appearance at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games, which was a forgettable affair for Les Bleus.
Indeed, France lost to both Mexico and Japan – conceding four goals on both occasions – to crash out in the group stage, but if there is any man who knows how to fight fire with fire, it is the head coach and all-time leading scorer for Arsenal Thierry Henry.
France did not have to go through the rigmarole of qualifying thanks to their status as Olympic hosts, and they have enjoyed a hot friendly streak of three wins and two draws in 2024 thus far, including a 4-1 beating of Paraguay and 7-0 crushing of the Dominican Republic earlier this month.
However, Henry’s side needed a Michael Olise stunner to rescue a 1-1 draw with Japan last Wednesday, but with the eye-catching talent at their disposal, France has to be regarded as one of the favorites for at least a podium finish, if not a coveted gold medal.
A new Olympic champion will be crowned in men’s football this summer thanks to Brazil’s failure to qualify, and the USA – who took home the silver medal back in 1904 and have since witnessed their female counterparts win four golds – may feel that their time is nigh.
Needing to restore a sense of national pride following the seniors’ dismal Copa America campaign, the Yanks – led by former Yugoslavia youth international Marko Mitrovic – breezed their way to Paris by defending their CONCACAF U-20 Championship title in 2022.
The USA had already qualified for the Games just by reaching the final, where they demolished the Dominican Republic 6-0 to retain their iron grip on the crown, as well as ending a 16-year exile from the men’s Olympic football tournament.
After going out in the group stage in 2008, the Stars and Stripes were not present at the 2012, 2016, or 2020 Games, and their warm-up period has been the definition of a mixed bag; a 2-0 loss to Japan preceded a 1-0 win over Paraguay.
Wednesday’s battle will mark the first time in history that France and the USA have crossed paths in the men’s Olympic football competition, but the Yanks’ women’s team ran out 4-2 winners over Les Bleus at London 2012, before going on to win their third gold in succession.
France pre-Olympics form:
WDWWD
USA pre-Olympics form:
WDLW
We say: France Under-23s 2-0 USA Under-23s
A France and USA one-two may very well come to fruition in Group A further down the line, but there should only be one clear winner in Wednesday’s opening scrap.
While Henry is blessed with clinical and well-versed attackers, Les Bleus possesses highly-rated young stars in all thirds of the field and should live up to the pre-tournament hype in Marseille.