Friday's men's Olympic quarter-final predictions and free football tips: France fancied to make the semis

Where to watch

Morocco vs USA
Eurosport 5 & Discovery+, 2pm

Japan vs Spain
Eurosport 5 & Discovery+, 4pm

Egypt vs Paraguay
Eurosport 5 & Discovery+, 6pm

France vs Argentina
Eurosport 5 & Discovery+, 8pm

Best bets

Spain
1pt 11-8 Hills

France
1pt 11-10 general

Friday's men's Olympics football predictions

Spain's hopes of emulating their senior side's Euro 2024 triumph at the Olympics took a hit as they lost their final group match to drop into second in their section. 

However, they rested players for that 2-1 loss to Egypt having already secured a place in the quarter-finals and they still have a great chance of making the semis in the kinder half of the draw. 

A clash with Japan stands between La Roja and the semi-finals, and that is certainly a winnable clash. 

While Japan recorded a perfect group stage, they were perhaps fortunate to do so. Paraguay received a 25th-minute red card in their opener, making that game plain sailing, and although they beat Mali and Israel 1-0, they lost both those games on expected goals. 

Spain represent a much tougher test for Go Oiwa's men and they could struggle against a well-rested and talented La Roja side who racked up an impressive 5.56 expected goals over their three group games. 

Morocco and the USA face off in the first match of the day, with the clash between Spain and Japan following before Egypt and Paraguay meet in Marseille. 

However, the undoubted match of the round comes later as due to Argentina's inability to top Group B, we will be treated to a heavyweight bout between two of the three pre-tournament favourites as La Albiceleste take on hosts France in Bordeaux. 

Javier Mascherano's side lost their opener to Morocco before showing improvement against Iraq and Ukraine. However, they will need some more rapid progress if they are to reach the semis as everything looks set up for France to go all the way. 

Les Bleus, like Japan, enjoyed a perfect group stage in which they won every game, scoring seven goals and conceding none, and Thierry Henry made nine changes to his starting line-up for their clash with New Zealand, meaning they go into this quarter-final much fresher than their opponents. 

Star forwards Michael Olise, Alexandre Lacazette and Jean-Philippe Mateta have been in fine form, their defence looking impenetrable and their key men are well rested, so the hosts should have too much for Argentina.  

Read more Olympics previews . . . 

Team GB 2024 Olympics medal predictions: Hard to match scale of recent successes 

Click for more free bets and betting offers from the Racing Post

Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing and sports betting.