Olympic Soccer: Best Bets for Wednesday 7/31/24

The women's soccer tournament at the Paris Olympics continues on Wednesday with the final round of group stage matches.

All teams are coming off a short turnaround as each squad played their opening group match last Thursday and their second group game this past Sunday.

Olympic Soccer Best Bets

Colombia vs. Canada

Canada Moneyline (-120)

Things have been anything but normal so far for Canada. They've won both of their first two matches but are sitting on zero points due to a six-point deduction they received as a penalty for a drone-spying scandal.

Despite that, because a pair of third-place teams get to move on, there's still a chance for the Canadians to advance to the knockout rounds if they beat Colombia on Wednesday. In short, they have it all to play for.

Canada are ranked 8th by FIFA World Rankings while Colombia are 22nd. Canada have picked up a pair of 2-1 wins over France and New Zealand. The victory over France was an impressive one. Not only did France have the homefield advantage, the French are ranked second by FIFA rankings.

Colombia have notched a win over New Zealand (2-0) but lost to France (3-2). The 3-2 scoreline against France is a little misleading as France controlled things, putting 7 shots on target to Colombia's 4.

In the France-Canada match, both sides registered four shots on target.

Canada has a sizable edge by FIFA rankings, is playing well this tourney and desperately needs a win to move on. I like their chances to take all three points on Wednesday.

Japan vs. Nigeria

Under 2.5 Goals (-108)

These two teams have had brutally tough schedules thus far with games against Spain (first in FIFA Rankings) and Brazil (ninth). But both have given a good account of themselves.

Japan beat Brazil by a 2-1 score but fell to Spain by that same 2-1 score. Nigeria has been beaten twice, but they made each match tight, losing both games 1-0.

The stout defensive effort from Nigeria is a continuation of what they did at the 2023 World Cup. There, Nigeria played four matches and kept a clean sheet in three of those matches, including holding England and Canada without a goal.

It's a similar story for Japan. In the 2023 World Cup, they kept a clean sheet in all three of their group matches.

We have two capable defenses squaring off in this one, and I think they will win out over the attacks.

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