Stadium: Allianz Riviera (Nice)
30.07.2024 18:00
The last day of the men's football competition in Group B at the 2024 Summer Olympics will probably be worth the trip. Before the last group stage match, all countries are tied at three points. Thus, Morocco and Iraq are competing to go to the quarterfinals. They will square off this Tuesday in Nice at the Allianz Riviera at 17:00 (GMT+3). Morocco, making its Olympic debut in 2024, left a lasting impression, especially under the leadership of Achraf Hakimi. Argentina was defeated by the Moroccan team despite a tumultuous match finish. Despite having a numerical advantage, Tarik Sektioui's team was unable to hold on and lost to Ukraine in the closing seconds.
For the Atlas Lions, nothing is lost! Nevertheless, they will need to carry out the task against Iraq. The latter was similarly successful in making an impression when it qualified for the 2024 Olympics. Against Ukraine, it only had two shots on target. That was sufficient to win the game (2-1). After that, it faced further difficulties against Argentina (3-1). When facing off against one of the tournament's outsiders, the circumstances will be equally challenging. Morocco wants to compete in this event and win a medal. To guarantee a spot in the knockout stages, it needs to make its presence known throughout this match.
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Morocco's 2-1 loss against 10-man Ukraine in their match at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Saturday prevented them from moving on to the next round. The Atlas Lions controlled most of the game and had over 65% of the ball possession, but Igor Krasnopir's goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time gave Ukraine a thrilling victory, leaving the team fuming after full-time.
This came after their contentious 2-1 victory over Argentina in the Group B opener when the 28-year-old forward Soufiane Rahimi scored goals in both halves to send La Albiceleste into loss on the first day of competition.
Tarik Sektioui's team is competing in its first Olympics football tournament in twelve years. They will hope to improve on their group-stage departure from 2012, when they finished third in Group D with two points out of a potential nine points after losing once and drawing twice.
Morocco is participating in its fifth Olympics, but despite this, they have never advanced past the group rounds. If they win all three points on Tuesday, they could end this record.
Iraq
Iraq was sent back to earth on Saturday afternoon at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais after losing 3-1 to an uncontrollably dominant Argentine team.
Aymen Hussein tied the score at halftime after Argentina had fallen behind to a goal from Thiago Almada in the 14th minute, but goals from Luciano Gondou and Exequiel Fernandez in the second half gave Argentina the victory.
Before that, Hussein and Ali Jasim's goals helped Radhi Shenaishil's team come back from behind to defeat Ukraine 2-1, but they had to work hard in their opening match.
Iraq is playing football in the Olympics for the first time since 2016, when they were eliminated in the group stages despite winning three of their three Group A games. They were not able to go to Japan in 2020.
The Lions of Mesopotamia had their finest performance at the Games in 2004, winning Group D with six points out of a possible nine and defeating Australia 1-0 in the quarterfinals.
But three days before losing 1-0 to Italy in the bronze medal match, they were defeated 3-1 by eventual runners-up Paraguay in the semifinals, bringing a stop to their incredible journey.
Expert Betting Tips
Both sides have a decent chance of making the playoffs, but Morocco seems to be the favorite because of their stronger roster and winning ways in their past games.
With the game's high stakes, we anticipate that both teams will exert every effort to score as many points as possible in an effort to advance to the knockout stages. Morocco has a stronger team on paper, so we predict them to win all three points.