AFTER their thrilling and controversial encounter against Morocco, Argentina will look to keep their hopes of winning the football Gold Medal alive when they take on Iraq on Saturday.
Argentina thought they'd rescued a point in their opening match against Morocco, only for the goal to be controversially ruled out a whole two hours later. It has left them in a tricky spot and anything other than a win against Iraq would leave their Olympic dreams in tatters.
Iraq come into this one in a much stronger position. They won their opening match of the tournament and know if they can win again here then they will have qualified for the knockout stages.
How the bookies view it: Argentina backed to bounce back
The bookies expect Argentina to use their understandable fury as fuel to fire them back into the Olympics on Saturday. Argentina have been priced as the 4/11 favourites with Betfred for this one while Iraq are considered major underdogs at 6/1. The draw, which would suit Iraq down to the ground, has been priced at 100/30.
Recent head-to-head: Unfamiliar foes
Argentina and Iraq have only ever met once before on the football pitch. That encounter took place in an international friendly match back in 2018 and Argentina came out on top 4-0. As the majority of players who will take to the field on Saturday are under 23, the relevance of that result isn't significant and shouldn't play into the minds of the players on either team.
Argentina and Iraq have never met before in the Olympics.
Players to watch: Has Alvarez run out of gas?
Julian Alvarez had a very poor game against Morocco in Argentina's opening match of the tournament and it isn't out of the question that the Manchester City forward is suffering from fatigue.
Last season, he became a regular for City and ended up playing over 50 matches for the club as they battled on four fronts. He then started four of Argentina's six matches at the recent Copa America – a tournament they won.
It means that the 24-year-old hasn't had a rest for well over a year now and there are signs that he is running on empty. Regardless, he still the most talented player in the Argentina Olympic squad and even if he is only half fit, he has it in him to drag them through this match and keep their Gold Medal dreams alive.
Predicted line-ups
Argentina could make a couple of changes with Giuliano Simeone knocking on the door for a start after he scored from the bench against Morocco. Iraq, meanwhile, will perhaps feel that they don't need to break up a winning formula after they defeated Ukraine in their opener.
Argentina: Rulli – Garcia, Di Cesare, Otamendi, Barreto – Hezze, Medina – Almada, Alvarez, Zenon – Simeone
Iraq: Hassan – Saadon, Tahseen, Ojaimi, Maknzi, Ali – Mohammed, Bayesh, Amyn, Mohammed – Hussein
Anything else catch the eye?
After both teams were involved in matches that finished 2-1 in their opening games of the tournament, it seems sensible to back a similar scoreline again here. Given Argentina's superiority in terms of quality, though, it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see them score more than two goals. Over 3.5 goals to be scored in the match is priced at 7/4 with Betfred.
This Olympics match between Argentina and Iraq will be played on Jul 27, 2024 and kick off at 14:00. Check below for our tipsters best Argentina vs Iraq prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
