Category: Summer Olympics

Summer Olympics Men’s Soccer: Mexico vs. France odds, picks and prediction

Previewing Thursday’s Mexico vs. France odds and lines, with Summer Olympics Men’s Soccer picks, tips and best bets.

In Men’s Summer Olympics Group A soccer action Thursday, Mexico and France play in a 4 a.m. ET kickoff at Tokyo Stadium. Below, we preview the Mexico vs. France odds and lines, and make our best soccer bets, picks and predictions.

Mexico is a little at a disadvantage here, as the national team remains alive and well at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. So, this side is made up of mostly younger, prospect-type players. F Henry Martin, GK Guillermo Ochoa and MF Luis Romo do give El Tri a little bit of experience, too.

The senior team for France just completed EURO 2021, so stars like Mbappe are away from the squad. Experienced players like F Andre-Pierre Gignac and MF Florian Thauvin are in Tokyo, and 19-year-old striker Nathanael Mbuku is a future star.

Mexico vs. France: Odds, picks and predictions

Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 7:40 a.m. ET.

  • Money line: Mexico +333 (bet $100 to win $333) | France -115 (bet $115 to win $100) | Draw +220
  • Over/Under: 2.5 (O: +110 | U: -155)

Place your legal, online Summer Olympics bets in CO, IA, IN, MI, NJ, PA, TN, VA, WV and Washington D.C., at BetMGM. Risk-free first bet! Terms and conditions apply. Bet now!

Prediction

France 2, Mexico 0

Money line (ML)

FRANCE (-115) is the clear-cut favorite, and it has the offense to make quite a bit of noise up front. The defending World Cup champs might not have Mbappe, but the cupboard is anything but bare.

Play our new free daily Pick’em Challenge and win! Play now!

Over/Under (O/U)

UNDER 2.5 (-155) is the “lean”, as Mexico, in particular, could get off to quite a slow start. France could strike for the opening score in the first half, then play a possession game the rest of the way. I am not expecting a lot from Mexico in this very difficult group.

Want some action in this one? Place a Summer Olympics bet with BetMGM today. For more sports betting picks and tips, visit SportsbookWire.com. Please gamble responsibly.

Follow @JoeWilliamsVI on Twitter. Follow @SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage. This information is for entertainment purposes only. We make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any content.

[lawrence-newsletter]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=3296]

USMNT won’t play in Olympics, but they could still feature a strong U-23 squad this summer

Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Sergiño Dest headline the USMNT’s strong core of U-23 players.

After losing 2-1 to Honduras on Sunday, U.S. Soccer’s under-23 men’s team failed to qualify for the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan (the women’s team qualified last year).

Unlike the women’s game, the men’s Olympic tournament is an under-23 competition (technically under-24 this time after the Olympics were postponed one year due COVID-19). Because the men’s competition is considered a youth tournament, FIFA does not require clubs to release their players for international duty (for qualifying or the tournament).

For that reason, many of the best U-23 players in the world don’t participate in the Olympics and many countries don’t take soccer seriously at the tournament. It’s not anything close to the World Cup.

Americans love the Olympics, though, and we gather together every four years to watch sports we otherwise don’t care about. Evan casual American sports fans would have tuned in if the USA’s U-23 soccer team reached the semifinal or final at the Olympics — it’s another chance to win gold!

The USMNT won’t get a chance to grow its popularity during the Olympics this summer after they failed to qualify, but they could still build a strong U-23 roster for the Concacaf Nations League in June or the Gold Cup in July.

U.S. Soccer won’t be limited to 18-player rosters this summer, but I capped it at that just to demonstrate the Olympic-eligible core the USMNT has (teams can also bring three overage players to the Olympics). This squad won’t play in Tokyo, but they represent a promising future for the national team.