Brazil and Spain square off in the gold medal match of the men’s football event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. There isn’t much to separate the two nations heading into Saturday’s clash and they are likely to cancel each other out for a draw.
Brazil needed penalties before seeing off Mexico in their semi-final fixture. Richarlison struck the woodwork with the best chance for Brazil, who then went on to claim a 4-1 victory in the shootout.
The defending champions are looking to retain the title they won in Rio 2016. Andre Jardine’s men are unbeaten in the competition and have claimed three regulation time wins from their five matches in Tokyo.
Driven by Richarlison and his five goals, Brazil have shown their attacking quality in the competition. They put four goals past 2016 finalists Germany in their opening fixture and also claimed a 3-1 victory over Saudi Arabia.
Spain were taken to extra time by hosts Japan before booking a place in Saturday’s final. After failing to find a way past the stubborn Japanese in normal time, Marco Asensio found the breakthrough in the second half of extra time to give Spain the win.
The Spaniards are seeking their first Olympic football gold medal since hosting the tournament in 1992. Luis de la Fuente’s men have been steady in the competition and reached the final unbeaten.
Like Brazil, Spain have good quality in attack but have struggled to show it on a consistent basis. Their biggest win in the competition was a 5-2 extra time victory over Cote D’Ivoire with Rafa Mir netting a hat-trick.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have Brazil as slight favourites with a win priced at 87/50 by betway. A victory for Spain is valued at 21/10 by bet365 who are also offering odds of 15/8 by bet365.
A draw looks to be on the cards here with little to separate both teams.
Head to head
This will be the first meeting at this level between Brazil and Spain.
Players to watch
Everton forward Richarlison is the top scorer in the tournament with five goals and could be worth keeping an eye on for Brazil. With support Matheus Cunha, who has found the net twice, the Brazilians could be tipped to score over 1.5 goals at 9/4 with bet365.
Spain have plenty of quality in attack and often spread their goals across the team. Marco Asensio, Dani Olmo, Mikel Oyarzabal and Rafa Mir have all been on target in Tokyo and can combine to produce over 1.5 goals for the Spaniards at 5/2 with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
Given the attacking quality in Spain and Brazil, both teams could be backed to score at 6/5 with bet365. Over 2.5 goals could be considered at 17/10 with the same firm, who are also offering 9/2 for over 3.5 goals.
Given the fact that both teams have benefited from late goals lately, the second half could be tipped as the highest scoring half at 6/5 with bet365.
This Olympics match between Brazil and Spain will be played on Aug 7, 2021 and kick off at 12:30. Check below for our tipsters best Brazil vs Spain prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.