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The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, run from July 26 through Aug. 11 in Paris, France. Let’s analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s lines for the best men’s soccer gold medal Futures, and make our expert Summer Olympic picks and predictions.
We have 8 matches set for Wednesday, July 24, officially ahead of the Opening Ceremonies, including Argentina, as all 16 Olympics squads are in action for the 1st time.
La Albiceleste, fresh off a Copa America championship victory against Colombia in Miami, gets underway in Group B play against Morocco at 9 a.m. ET.
Spain, which just won Euro 2024, also begins play at 9 a.m. against Uzbekistan in Group C play. Meanwhile, France and the United States meet at 3 p.m. in a Group A battle.
In the 2020 Summer games in Japan — which due to COVID were actually held in 2021 — Brazil won the men’s soccer gold medal, Spain took home silver and Mexico picked up bronze. On the women’s side, Canada won gold, Sweden claimed silver and the USWNT secured bronze.
In the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, host nation Brazil secured the gold medal in men’s soccer, with Germany ending up with the silver and Nigeria coming up with a bronze.
In 2012, it was Mexico topping Brazil in London, with South Korea winning the bronze. In 2008, the medal winners on the men’s side in Beijing were Argentina (gold), Nigeria (silver) and Brazil (bronze).
Going back to 2004, the medal winners on the men’s side in Athens were Argentina (gold), Paraguay (silver) and Italy (bronze). In 2000 in Australia, Cameroon (gold), Spain (silver) and Chile (bronze) were your medal winners on the men’s side.
And, if you remember the 1996 Atlanta games, our medal winners on the men’s side were Nigeria (gold), Argentina (silver) and Brazil (bronze), while in 1992, Spain (gold), Poland (silver) and Ghana (bronze) claimed medals.
2024 Olympics men’s soccer gold medal odds
Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday, July 23, at 7:34 a.m. ET.
- France: +210 (bet $100 to win $210)
- Argentina: +240 (bet $100 to win $240)
- Spain: +280 (bet $100 to win $280)
- Morocco: +1400 (bet $100 to win $1,400)
- Paraguay: +2100 (bet $100 to win $2,100)
- USA: +2400 (bet $100 to win $2,400)
- Egypt: +3000 (bet $100 to win $3,000)
- Japan: +3000 (bet $100 to win $3,000)
- Ukraine: +3000 (bet $100 to win $3,000)
- Mali: +3900 (bet $100 to win $3,900)
- Israel: +6000 (bet $100 to win $5,000)
- Uzbekistan: +6500 (bet $100 to win $6,500)
- Guinea: +7500 (bet $100 to win $7,500)
- Iraq: +10000 (bet $100 to win $10,000)
- Dominican Republic: +50000 (bet $100 to win $50,000)
- New Zealand: +50000 (bet $100 to win $50,000)
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2024 Olympics men’s soccer — expert pick
FRANCE (+210)
The men’s soccer tournament was last won by a host nation at Rio 2016 when Brazil claimed the gold medal. Les Bleus look to delight the home fans this summer, and France enters as the chalk to do just that.
As mentioned, a European nation hasn’t won the gold medal in the men’s soccer tournament since the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
France is in Group A with United States, Guinea and New Zealand. However, if you’re looking for F Kylian Mbappe on manager Thierry Henry’s roster, you’ll be sorely disappointed. His new club Real Madrid was against the idea of their big investment competing in the Olympic format.
F Alexandre Lacazette, who plays for Lyon in French Ligue 1, is the captain in Mbappe’s place. Another star France will look to is teen phenom F Desire Doue, who plays for Stade Rennais in Ligue 1.
Being the host nation, while having several strong club players, gives France the upper hand — or leg — in the men’s tournament.
2024 Olympics men’s soccer — contender
MOROCCO (+1400)
Morocco has never won an Olympic medal in men’s soccer, but Atlas Lions have a very good chance of not only getting on the podium, but winning the whole thing.
We saw the quality of Moroccan football at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, as they captured the imagination of fans everywhere, upsetting Spain in the Round of 16 and taking down Portugal 1-0 in the quarterfinals before eventually bowing out against France in the semis. It also lost the 3rd-place match to Croatia, but still made its presence as a world power known.
Manager Tarik Sektioui has plenty of star power on his squad, and a lot of the players are known to French fans, playing club soccer all around the country. In fact, MFs Amir Richardson (Stade de Reims), Yassine Kechta and Oussama Targhalline (Le Havre AC), F Eliesse Ben Seghir (AS Monaco), MF Benjamin Bouchouari (Saint-Etienne) and D Achraf Hakimi (Paris-St. Germain) all play in France for a paycheck.
It gets real in a hurry for Morocco as it opens against Argentina. But, it’s a watered-down Argentina as most of its major stars — who won the past 2 Copa Americas and the World Cup — are sitting out this tourney.
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2024 Olympics men’s soccer — long shot
UKRAINE (+3000)
This isn’t some kind of conspiracy theory, but how much of a feel-good story would it be if The Blue and Yellow were able to make a run in the Paris games, taking their fellow countrymen’s minds off of the terrible war against Russia, at least for a little while?
Don’t write it off as far-fetched. The national team has been playing home matches in Lodz, Poland, and it collected 4 points in the UEFA Euro 2024, losing 3-0 to Romania, topping Slovakia 2-1 and playing to a scoreless draw against Belgium to just miss a trip out of the knockout stages.
Manager Ruslan Rotan has a squad full of mostly players from club teams in Ukraine, obviously relocated due to the war. That includes MFs Dmytro Kryskiv and Kyrylo Siheiev, who play for FC Shakhtar Donetsk. F Danylo Sikan and GK Kiril Fesiun also play for Donetsk, and MF Maksym Braharu plays for FC Dynamo Kyiv.
Don’t overlook Ukraine as this team might play with more heart than any of the other squads in the Olympics combined.
Check out Pro Soccer Wire: For the American soccer fan, USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s website provides a fresh look at the beautiful game.
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More USA TODAY Summer Olympics coverage:
News | Medal count | Meet Team USA
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