Stadium: Saitama Stadium
The French team lost with a heavy defeat against the Mexicans with a score of 1-4 at the start of the Olympics. Will Sylvain Ripoll's wards be able to make up for that failure in the game with South Africa? Our prediction: this time the French Team will get an easy victory!
France current form
The French team was supposed to be one of the favorites in the Olympic football tournament, but the vast majority of players from the original lineup could not come to Tokyo, as their clubs imposed a ban on the event. That's why Sylvain Ripoll had to hastily adjust the composition, which still turned out to be very interesting names, and Andre-Pierre Gignac and Florian Tauvin - even stars of world soccer. Alas, in the first match they greatly disappointed their fans, and with them the whole French team, which allowed a devastating defeat against Mexico with a score of 1-4.
South Africa current form
The South African national team is the outsider in Group A, which should enjoy some playing some football on the Japanese fields of the Olympics. The players need to remember this grand event, but it will be almost impossible for them to solve serious problems and advance to the next stage of the round. However, in the first game against the tournament hosts Japan, the Yellow and Green played surprisingly patiently, though they lost to their opponent in shots - 4-14, and in shots on goal - 1-6, but up to 71 minutes they managed to tie in standings, but then Takefusa Kubo hit an unstoppable shot, which led to South Africa's defeat - 0-1. There are even tougher matches ahead, but the Africans will undoubtedly fight to the end.
Expert betting tips
The French team is important and must fight for medals in the football tournament at the Olympics, but they suffered a crushing 1-4 loss to the Mexicans in their first match. Of course, that outcome was a blow to their egos, something the Frenchmen must do something about. Fortunately, in the second game, they will play against the weakest team in Group A, where they can not only get easy three points but also rehabilitate themselves for the previous defeat. As a result, we are forced to bet on the victory of France with a handicap (-1.5) at an odds of about 1.73.
In Group A, there are three teams that will seriously fight for the quarterfinals: the Japanese hosts, the Mexicans, who have already proven themselves, and the powerful French. Alas, South Africa is the main outsider of the tournament. The teams should get a goal advantage against South Africa to be calm enough and concentrate on getting to the next stage of the tournament. The best option for betting seems to be an individual total of 3.5 goals for France at odds close to 3.70.
The French team had a bad first match at the Olympics, where Andre-Pierre Gignac, Florian Tauvin, Enzo Le Feu, and Arnaud Norden could not create almost anything after the Mexican goal. There is a high probability that by the second game there will be a serious personnel rotation, and special attention should be paid to Nantes forward Randal Kolo Muani, who scored ten goals for the Canaries last season, the last of which allowed the club to remain in the elite French division. In this situation, it is worth looking at a bet on his goal at odds of about 2.35.