Argentina vs Iraq Prediction: Tough but crucial encounter for Argentina

The round 2 encounters of the Olympic football games kick off this Saturday, and the match between Argentina and Iraq will take place at Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon. A win for either team here will boost their chances of qualification. How will this encounter end?

Argentina did not have the kind of start they would have wanted in this Olympics, and Javier Mascherano's men will come into this game confident of taking something out of this game. In their opening game against Morocco, Argentina went behind in the additional minutes of the first half while also conceding in the 51st minute. However, they could not pull one back until the 68th minute of the game, thanks to Giuliano Simeone's strike. Yet, in the dying minutes of the match, Argentina thought they had picked a point in that game through Christian Medina's goal until the VAR ruled it off as offside. Heading into this game, this team come in as favorites, and will hope they can get things right here. 

Iraq would not have dreamed of a better performance than what we saw against Ukraine on day one. In that encounter, Iraq needed to come from behind to take maximum points in that game, good enough to see them move to the second spot of the Group B standings. In that game, Aymen Hussein's goal leveled the scores for Iraq in the 57th minute, and a 75th-minute strike by Ali Jassim was all this team needed to win. Heading into this game, Iraq are undefeated in their last four games, playing to three consecutive draws in prior games to their opening win. 

This is an open game for both teams to grab, but it is crucial for Argentina to win. Iraq showed that they could not be written off in this Olympic Games, but Argentina also showed resilience despite losing to Morocco in their opener. In attack, both teams are a threat, making this game one that should end with goals. While Argentina is the better team overall, I expect them to be able to take maximum points and be in contention for qualification from the group stage.