The Olympic men’s soccer tournament is far from the crown jewel of the Olympic Games, due to its age restrictions and its spot on the calendar between the major international tournaments and the start of the major club seasons. But that doesn’t mean bettors will be without a chance to enjoy value on this event. Here, we break down the men’s soccer tournament and make our soccer betting picks in the outright winner market.
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Olympic Men’s Soccer Betting Odds
| Team | Gold Medal Odds |
| France | +230 |
| Spain | +260 |
| Argentina | +275 |
| Morocco | +1100 |
| USA | +1600 |
| Paraguay | +2000 |
| Egypt | +2000 |
| Japan | +2500 |
| Ukraine | +3000 |
| Mali | +4000 |
| Guinea | +5000 |
| Uzbekistan | +6500 |
| Israel | +6500 |
| New Zealand | +10000 |
| Iraq | +12000 |
| Dominican Republic | +15000 |
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook
The favorites to win the Olympic men’s soccer tournament are the established powers in the world game. France, Spain, and Argentina have all enjoyed major tournament success at the senior level in the recent past. Those teams aren’t likely to be as dangerous in this under-23 tournament, but they have each brought some overage players that could help them win this event as well.
In a tournament like this, though, a lack of predictability could work in the favor of more adventurous bettors. Upsets are much more common at this level, where players are young and still looking to find their level on the international stage. At the very least, bettors should not rule out teams at longer odds to win this tournament.
Olympic Men’s Soccer Major Storylines
The top storyline going into this tournament is the selection of each team’s overage players. Each team is allowed three players who are not under 23 years of age. Among those chosen are forwards Alexandre Lacazette for France and Julian Alvarez for Argentina, who are the favorites to finish as top scorers in the tournament. Meanwhile, international stars like Achraf Hakimi of Morocco and Naby Keita of Guinea could help those nations to shake up the order of things.
After their failure at Copa America over the summer, the performance of the United States will also be a huge storyline heading into the Olympic men’s soccer tournament. The US has opted to bring defenders Walker Zimmerman and Miles Robinson as two of its overage players. The question will be whether this team can generate enough of an attack to make those decisions pay off.
Who the Cinderella story of this tournament is will also be a major storyline. We’ve seen Iraq finish in fourth place in this tournament back in 2004, while Nigeria has won multiple medals in this event since 2008. Someone unexpected is going to make a deep run at this tournament, with the only question being which country that will be.
Olympic Men’s Soccer Medal Contenders
The obvious top contenders for medals going into this tournament will be France, Argentina, and Spain. Those sides ooze quality at all levels. But it would be foolish to count out nations like Morocco and Paraguay from medal contention here. Morocco is especially interesting with Hakimi out there to boss around the younger players given his wealth of high-profile club experience.
Men’s Soccer Betting Prediction: Morocco (+1100)
In fact, we are going to take a chance on Morocco to win the Olympic men’s soccer gold in Paris. They have a tough road ahead of them in a group with Argentina. But if Morocco can finish second to Argentina in their group, they could easily generate enough momentum to make a deep run that mirrors their run in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with Hakimi leading them once again. At a much better price than the big three in this competition, we will take our chances with the Atlas Lions.
