Argentina U23 vs Morocco U23 Prediction: Argentina to win

A formidable Argentina U23 team begins their quest for Olympic gold in a match that promises to be fierce in Group B in northern France. Iraq and Ukraine are paired together, and both countries understand how important it is to open their tournament at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard with a victory.

Argentina U23 enters this tournament riding high off their earlier-season success in the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament, where they went seven games without losing. In their most recent match, in February, Argentina defeated Brazil 1:0. They also won three and drew four games.

The U23 team, captained by Javier Mascherano, is made up of several young players, such as Thiago Almada, the recent high-profile addition to Botafogo. The Argentine supporters, who have a winning record in Saint-Etienne this past year, will be hoping for a victory on Wednesday.

Even though Morocco has less recent experience than their South American opponents, they are nevertheless unlikely to be easily defeated. Three of the Atlas Lions' most recent U23 matches ended in losses, including matches against Group B rivals Iraq and Ukraine.

Argentina should be confident in their ability to win on Wednesday, given their recent winning record in all age categories, even though it's difficult to draw too many conclusions before this match.

As they prepare for their tenth Olympic Games, Argentina hopes to build on their performance in Tokyo 2020, where they were unable to proceed past the group stage after being edged out by Egypt for a top-two finish on goal differential. La Albiceleste is considered one of the favourites to win in Paris this time around, and they are led by a winner in former midfielder Javier Mascherano of Barcelona and Liverpool. Mascherano won gold in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 while playing, and he has been in charge of Argentina's youth team since 2021.

Argentina and Paraguay are leading the way for South America this time around because the continent has dominated the Men's Olympic Football Tournament in recent years, taking home four of the last five gold medals. Brazil, on the other hand, has won the last two tournaments but was unable to qualify for Paris 2024.

Argentina participated in two friendlies to get ready for the Paris Games after placing second, behind Paraguay, in the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament in mid-February. They started off strong, defeating Petrus Flo, a side composed of French players without a club, 5-0. But in their last warm-up encounter on Saturday, Argentina unexpectedly lost 1-0 to Guinea with a fully-fit squad. This was not the best start ahead of what could turn out to be a challenging test against Morocco on Wednesday.

Morocco will participate in the Men's Football Tournament for the eighth time at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris; this will be their first appearance since their 2012 London competition, where they were eliminated in the group round.

Morocco has qualified for the tournament this year after winning the 2023 Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations, led by former manager Issame Charai. Charai was "bizarrely" relieved of his duties in March following Morocco's defeat in three of their five friendlies towards the end of 2023. Tarik Sektioui, who was formerly a player for Porto, took over as head coach.

Morocco, who are currently the fourth favorites to win a gold medal in Paris, has lost ground to Sektioui. The Moroccans will be looking to place in the top two of Group B and make it past the first round for the first time since they advanced to the second round in Munich in the 1972 Olympics.

Since Sektioui arrived, the Atlas Lions have participated in three friendlies; they most recently had a 2-2 tie with Belgium in June, following victories of 2-0 over Wales and 1-0 over Ukraine in May.

Four 2022 World Cup winners—Juan Alvarez, Nicolas Otamendi, Geronimo Rulli, and Thiago Almada—are included in Argentina's 18-man roster. The first three were also a member of the senior team that won the 2024 Copa America earlier this month.

The most notable player in Morocco's team is Achraf Hakimi of Paris Saint-Germain, who is anticipated to play at right-back. Other predicted starters are Benjamin Bouchouari of Saint-Etienne, Ilias Akhomach of Villarreal, and Abde Ezzalzouli of Real Betis.

These two countries are expected to finish in the first two spots in Group B, ahead of Iraq and Ukraine. If they win their match on Wednesday, they will have a strong advantage in finishing at the summit. In what could end up being a competitive match, Argentina cannot take Morocco lightly, but we predict the South Americans to win by a slim margin.