Olympics - Men's Olympic Tournament
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by Ian John in Men's Olympic Tournament Predictions
Japan faces Mali in Group D of the Men's Olympic Football competition. If Japan wins this match, Go Oiwa's team will qualify for the tournament's second phase. Will our prediction back another Japanese win and a place in the knockout phase for the Asian side, or will Mali cause an upset?
The Japanese team put on an impressive performance in their Olympic opener, defeating Paraguay 5-0 in Bordeaux in a real show of strength and quality finishing. It was Japan's fifth win in six games and came after an impressive 1-1 friendly draw with host nation France just before the tournament started.
Defensively, Japan has been superb in the last few games, conceding just one goal (to France) and scoring 11 across their last five matches. Their performance in beating Paraguay was the stand-out performance of the first set of group games.
Mali will be the underdogs for this clash with Japan after only managing a 1-1 draw with Israel in their opening fixture in Group D. However, don't rule out the African side just yet. Japan has lost two of their last eleven games, but the first of those defeats was a 3-1 loss to Mali back in March 2024.
Alou Badra Diallo's Eagles reached the quarter-finals when they appeared in the 2004 games, so they will still be confident of coming through the group phase. Mali is also on a four-game unbeaten run, drawing with Uzbekistan and then beating the same team a couple of days later in a rematch. They then drew their last match, their first in this Olympic tournament, with Israel.
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Japan vs Mali Form
Japan and Mali's standings in the Men's Olympic Tournament
| Teams | Pts | P | W | D | L | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
9 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
|
3
|
1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -2 |
Japan and Mali Last Matches
3/6 (50%)
1/6 (17%)
2/6 (33%)
Average stats (Last 6 matchs)
24 Jul 2024 - Men's Olympic Tournament
6 Aug 2021 - Men's Olympic Tournament
3 Aug 2021 - Men's Olympic Tournament
31 Jul 2021 - Men's Olympic Tournament
28 Jul 2021 - Men's Olympic Tournament
25 Jul 2021 - Men's Olympic Tournament
2/4 (50%)
1/4 (25%)
1/4 (25%)
Average stats (Last 6 matchs)
24 Jul 2024 - Men's Olympic Tournament
3 Aug 2021 - Men's Olympic Tournament
31 Jul 2021 - Men's Olympic Tournament
25 Jul 2021 - Men's Olympic Tournament
1/2 (50%)
0/2 (0%)
1/2 (50%)
Average stats (Last 6 matchs)
6 Aug 2021 - Men's Olympic Tournament
28 Jul 2021 - Men's Olympic Tournament
0/1 (0%)
1/1 (100%)
0/1 (0%)
Average stats (Last 6 matchs)
24 Jul 2024 - Men's Olympic Tournament
0/1 (0%)
1/1 (100%)
0/1 (0%)
Average stats (Last 6 matchs)
24 Jul 2024 - Men's Olympic Tournament
Average stats (Last 6 matchs)
Japan against Mali Lineups: Starting 11
Formation : 4 - 1 - 2 - 3
Formation : 4 - 1 - 2 - 3
Most goals and assists
Japan
Mali
S. Mito
(2 Goals)
,
S. Fujio
(2 Goals)
,
R. Yamamoto
(2 Goals)
C. Doumbia
(1 Goals)
K. Saito
(2 Assists)
T. Diarra
(1 Assists)
Japan - Mali Key Points
- Mali are unbeaten in four games.
- Both teams have scored in all four of those games involving Mali.
- Japan have gone six games unbeaten, five wins, one draw.
- Japan have only failed to score in one of their last 11 matches at U23 level.
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Our Japan vs Mali Prediction
Our prediction for Japan vs. Mali in the Olympic Men's Football Group D is: Both Teams to Score and Over 2.5 Goals. Japan has been solid defensively of late, but the one team that recently scored plenty against them, in Japan, too, was Mali.
The African side has also matched Japan's results against some other Olympic qualifiers of late and will certainly give them a much sterner test than Paraguay did. So much so, while we feel both teams will score, we are not sure which one will win. Either way, that means a match with at least three goals.
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