Argentina U23 vs Morocco U23 – Paris Olympics 2024

The Men’s Olympic Football Tournament at the Paris 2024 Games kicks off on Wednesday afternoon with Argentina taking on Morocco in their opening Group B match at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne.

Argentina aims to mirror the success of their senior team, which has won a World Cup and two Copa America titles in the past four years. Meanwhile, Morocco hopes to replicate the impressive performance of their first-team squad, which reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Argentina’s 18-man squad features four 2022 World Cup winners: Julian Alvarez, Nicolas Otamendi, Geronimo Rulli, and Thiago Almada. Otamendi, at 36, is one of the three players over the age of 23 and will bring valuable experience to a backline that includes Gonzalo Lujan, Marco Di Cesare, and Bruno Amione.

In midfield, Santiago Hezze, who won the Europa Conference League with Olympiacos last season, might team up with Almada and either Cristian Medina or Ezequiel Fernandez. Up front, Alvarez could be supported by Kevin Zenon and Giuliano Simeone.

For Morocco, all players have been training this week except Bologna’s Oussama El Azzouzi, who is expected to join soon. The standout name in Morocco’s squad is Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi, set to play at right-back. Saint-Etienne’s Benjamin Bouchouari, Villarreal’s Ilias Akhomach, and Real Betis’ Abde Ezzalzouli are also expected to be in the starting lineup.