Argentina vs Morocco Prediction and Betting Tips: Best bets for Olympics Group B opener

Argentina are well-fancied to walk away from the men’s Olympic football event with a gold medal and they get their campaign underway against a Morocco side who also harbour medal hopes.

Argentina have been sweeping up titles and the Albiceleste have swiftly become the dominant force on the international scene. 

The Argentinian senior side claimed World Cup glory in Qatar two years ago and Lionel Scaloni’s men were crowned Copa America champions earlier this month, with Javier Mascherano’s youngsters now getting a crack at Olympic glory. 

Morocco are the reigning under-23 Africa Cup of National champions, after capturing the trophy on home soil last year and the Atlas Lions arrive in France full of confidence. 

Tarik Sektioui can call on many of the squad which was successful in Rabat and the St Etienne stage is set for what should be a cracking Group B contest.

Morocco showed that they are a forward thinking side by scoring 12 goals in five matches on the way to under-23 Africa Cup of Nations glory. 

Sektioui’s side won’t be shy to push forward against Argentina and Albiceleste clearly have the attacking talent to cause problems. 

The net has bulged 38 times in the young Argentina’s side last ten matches and backing the goals to flow in St Etienne looks a sensible play.

Argentina head to Saint-Etienne to take on Morocco in their opening Group B contest, and while the likes of Lionel Messi and Lautaro Martinez won’t be in action, Mascherano does have plenty of talent at his disposal.

Manchester City’s Julien Alvarez is part of Mascherano’s squad and the 24-year-old should be a serious goalscoring threat at this level of competition. Claudio Echeverri, who was snapped up by City before returning to River Plate on loan, is another young Selection star, while Thiago Almada could be one to watch at the Paris Games. 

The 23-year-old has recently made a $30m move from Atlanta United to Brazilian side Botafogo and the Buenos Aires man was named MLS newcomer of the year in 2022. 

Almada will likely end up playing for French side Lyon before long, given they have the same ownership as Botafogo, and in company with Echeverri, Giuliano Simeone, Alvarez and Lucas Beltran it’s a stacked Argentinian forward line. 

Morocco hopes will be high too. The Atlas Lions cubs were buoyed by the senior team’s run to the semi-finals in Qatar and Tarik Sektioui inherited a successful team when taking over as under-23s boss in February. 

PSG’s Achraf Hakimi is the headline act in the Morocco squad and Abde Ezzalzouli, Oussama El Azzouzi and Mehdi Boukamir were all part of the Atlas Lions side that lifted the under-23 Africa Cup of Nations trophy last year. 

Sektioui’s side impressed on home soil in that competition, and beating the defending champions Egypt in the final reads as pretty strong form. 

Morocco certainly appear good enough to compete with Argentina and the Selection may not be as dominant as the prices suggest. 

The Atlas Lions can be backed at 11/4 on the draw-no bet market and that looks the best way to play this opening Group B clash.