Olympic Soccer: Best Bets for Wednesday 7/24/24

Soccer at the Paris Olympics kicks off on Wednesday with the men's group openers. Women's group play starts on Thursday.

There are 16 teams in the tournament for the men's competition, split into four-team groups. The two top sides from each group will advance to the knockout rounds.

Olympic Soccer Best Bets

France vs. United States, 3 p.m. ET

France First-Half Moneyline (-120)

The host nation has put together a strong roster, one that will be managed by the legendary Thierry Henry. Being the hosts, France will have the backing of the home crowd, and that's a big deal. They should come out with their hair on fire against the United States.

Oh, and it doesn't hurt that France is likely the most talented team in the tourney. According to Transfer Markt, four of the top nine players in terms of the highest transfer values in the tourney are French, and the talent is dispersed across the pitch, with those four players consisting of two attackers, one midfielder and one defender. There are 18 France players on the list before you get to the first American, so you could say France will have a wee bit of a talent edge.

France has a handful of top-notch options for its frontline, including Michael Olise, Alexandre Lacazette, Désiré Doué and Jean-Philippe Mateta. That's a potent group, one that possesses the ability to overwhelm the Americans' defense. Olise and Mateta starred for Crystal Palace last season in the Premier League while Lacazette plays for Lyon in Ligue 1. Doué is an up-and-coming talent who is currently at Rennes in France's top flight.

Olise is the star of the show and might be the best player at the Olympics. He got his big move to Bayern Munich this summer after lighting up the EPL last season with 16 combined goals plus assists (10 goals and 6 assists) in just 14 starts.

Lacazette is a proven goal-scorer who has netted 46 goals across his last two campaigns with Lyon. Mateta scored 16 times with 5 assists in 25 starts for Palace.

With a significant talent advantage on the US and the motivation of playing at home in front of what is sure to be a rowdy crowd, France should come out swinging Wednesday in their opener. I like them to go into the halftime break with a lead.

Spain vs. Uzbekistan, 9 a.m. ET

Spain Over 2.5 Goals (+116)

If there's a side in this competition that can challenge France in terms of on-paper talent, Spain is it. In the aforementioned Transfer Markt list of player transfer values, 5 of the top 11 hail from Spain -- so, combined, 9 of the top 11 are either French or Spanish.

Villareal's Álex Baena (attacking midfielder), Atletico Madrid's Samu Omorodion (winger) and the Barcelona duo of Pau Cubarsí (center-back) and Fermín López (central-midfield) give Spain a top-tier player at every level.

Uzbekistan is in a lot of trouble in this one, and there's a reason Spain is a whopping -460 to win in the 90 minutes.

If you watched Spain in the Euros, you saw a possession-based team that is strong defensively and can also get the ball forward in a hurry if there's an advantage in attack. This Spain group should play a lot like that, and they'll surely possess a ton of the ball versus Uzbekistan.

Getting three-plus goals is a big ask for any side in any match, but Spain have a massive talent advantage and can overpower Uzbekistan on Wednesday.

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.