Olympic Soccer: Best Bets for Friday's Quarterfinals (8/2/24)

The men's soccer tournament at the Paris Olympics has reached the knockout rounds. There are eight teams left, and all four quarterfinals take place throughout the day on Friday.

Olympic Soccer Best Bets

Morocco vs. United States

Team USA to Qualify for the Next Round (+130)

The U.S. have played fairly well thus far, and I think they have a better chance to advance than these +130 odds indicate.

The Americans suffered a 3-0 defeat to hosts France in their opening match, with a top-notch France side netting three goals in the final half hour. But after that result, the US picked up convincing wins over New Zealand (4-1) and Guinea (3-0) to book a place in the knockout rounds for the first time since 2000. The US put 17 combined shots on target across the victories over New Zealand and Guinea, so they were impressive performances.

Morocco survived a difficult Group B, coming in first in the group with six points. They bested Argentina (2-1) and Iraq (3-0) but fell to Ukraine (2-1). Morocco was somewhat fortunate to beat Argentina as they were out-shot 14-7, although they recorded just one fewer shot on target (4-3).

Morocco's 2-1 loss to Ukraine will likely give the Americans some confidence. In that match, Morocco had a man advantage from the 64th minute on in a 1-1 match but ended up conceding a late goal.

In my eyes, this is a fairly close matchup. Sure, Morocco have star power in right-back Achraf Hakimi and attacking-midfielder Bilal El Khannouss, but outside of those two, an in-form US side should be able to hold its own.

Japan vs. Spain

Japan Moneyline (+270)

Based on how these teams have looked in this tournament, I'm taking Japan to win in the 90 minutes.

Japan have been excellent through three matches. They're one of only two sides to claim nine points from the group stage (France is the other), and they have a stellar +7 goal differential. They've yet to concede a goal, so while you can argue that they haven't played any top-notch opposition, Japan have run through whoever has been in front of them.

Spain, on the other hand, haven't been as convincing. They registered two straight wins to start the tourney, topping Uzbekistan (2-1) and the Dominican Republic (3-1), prior to suffering a loss to Egypt (2-1).

Spain haven't kept a clean sheet yet, and while they've generally dominated possession in each match -- as you'd expect -- they haven't played all that well. In the loss to Egypt, they allowed 21 shots (10 on goal). In the win against Uzbekistan, a side that ended up with a mere one point, Spain had only one more shot on target than Uzbekistan.

Talent isn't the question for Spain. According to Transfer Markt's player values, there are 19 Spanish players with a higher transfer value than anyone on Japan. But Spain haven't yet found a way to get their talent to mesh into a top-class team performance while Japan have played like a well-oiled machine.

I think Japan pull off the upset on Friday.

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.