USA in First Olympic Quarter-Final Since 2000

Morocco Among Gold Medal Favorites

Morocco has advanced out of the group stage at the Olympics for the first time. With a dominant 3-0 win over Iraq on Tuesday, Morocco won Group B over Argentina. On Friday, the Atlas Lions take on the USA, who are making their first Olympic Quarter-Final appearance since 2000.

Heading into the knockout stage, Morocco is among the favorites to win the gold medal, at +500 outright odds. With Achraf Hakimi and Morocco going for a first Olympic Semifinal, we’ll cover the Morocco vs USA Olympic soccer match and odds.

Morocco vs USA Head-to-Head:

This is the first Morocco vs USA Olympic soccer match since the men’s tournament became a predominantly U23 competition. Last year, Morocco U23 did pick up a 1-0 win over USA U23 in a friendly.

Morocco Going for First Olympic Semifinal

Morocco entered the men’s Olympic soccer tournament as dark horses. The outright Olympics 2024 odds listed the Atlas Lions at +1000 and they’ve been impressive so far. In a wild 2-1 opening win over Argentina, in which Morocco’s fans invaded the pitch and the match was suspended for two hours, Soufiane Rahimi scored both of the Atlas Lions’ goals.

Rahimi was also on the scoresheet in the 2-1 loss to Ukraine in Morocco’s second match. Morocco has been creating plenty of chances all tournament and they were clinical on Tuesday. Amir Richardson, Rahimi, and Abde Ezzalzouli all got on the scoresheet in the first half in Morocco’s 3-0 win over Iraq.

In Group B, Morocco finished with six points and beat Argentina based on the head-to-head tiebreaker. Now, the Atlas Lions have a chance to make their first-ever Semifinal and their fans have shown up for each match in full force.

Rahimi leads the Golden Boot race with four goals and Achraf Hakimi is a veteran leader for this young Moroccan side. Bilal El Khannous is also a regular for the senior side and has been one of Morocco’s standout players thus far.

USA Bounce Back from Opening Loss

Last week, the USA took on host in their first Olympic match in 16 years. USA had their moments but had more individual quality and grabbed three second half goals. The USA U23 side bounced back in their second match with a dominant 4-1 win over New Zealand.

Although key midfielder Gianluca Busio went off injured after he scored, Djordje Mihailovic, Walker Zimmerman, and Paxten Aaronson all got on the scoresheet as well. The Olympics 2024 dates are unforgiving, with a match every three days, but Busio missed the group stage closer against Guinea.

Regardless, USA won 3-0 and Mihailovic was on target with an outrageous free kick. Kevin Paredes also scored twice in the victory as Griffin Yow made his first start of the tournament. USA finished with six points, which was good enough for second place in Group A.

After conceding three goals in the opener, USA only conceded once in their final two group stage matches. At +2400 outright odds, USA is a longshot soccer bet to consider for the gold medal.

However, Busio’s injury is somewhat concerning. If he can’t start on Friday, Maximilian Dietz could continue to start in his place.

Morocco vs USA Analysis & Odds

The Morocco vs USA Olympic soccer odds price Morocco as a favorite for the match. The Atlas Lions are +130 favorites to win in 90 minutes and are -150 favorites to qualify. Morocco’s senior side made an unexpected run to the 2022 FIFA World Cup Semifinals and Morocco U23 aren’t short on belief.

Rahimi, who was the 2023-24 AFC Champions League’s top scorer, has scored in each of his three games. He’ll be difficult to contain on Friday but the USA do have a chance. They’re +200 underdogs to win in 90 minutes and are +110 underdogs to advance to the Semis.

A draw (+230) would send this match into extra time and penalties would follow if the deadlock isn’t broken after 30 more minutes. Bettors who expect USA to avoid defeat might consider USA pk, +0.5 at -118. Meanwhile, Morocco pk, -0.5 is at even odds.

Both teams to score is at -125 odds and these have been two of the highest scoring teams at the Olympics so far. Morocco have averaged two goals per game and USA has scored 2.33 goals per. Still, under 2.5 goals are priced at -125 odds as a Semifinal spot is on the line on Friday.

For Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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