The 2024 Paris Olympic Games have officially kicked off and some of the football we’ve seen from it so far has been terrific. As usual, there’s also been plenty of interest in other major events like swimming and tennis taking place too. With the Olympics being a truly global and wide-ranging sporting event, online betting has risen considerably throughout the world since it began.
In general, online gambling is growing in popularity everywhere, with many nations in Asia registering some explosive growth in the sector. However, in places like Singapore and Korea, casino gaming is often more popular than sports betting. However, enthusiasts are encouraged to only play on an online 카지노 사이트 if it’s been professionally reviewed by an expert first to ensure their digital security isn’t compromised.
Many online gambling sites cater to both casino games and sports betting, so even if you’re a poker or Roulette fan, you still never have to miss a beat at the Olympics either.
If you’re looking for some great action to get in on, the football at the Olympics so far has been great with a massive upset already taking place in Group C.
The group’s final game between Spain and Egypt produced a shock upset as Egypt triumphed 2 – 1, beating the odds to finish as group leaders. Here’s a look at how it all went down.
The Standings Coming into the Game
Even though Spain already had two wins under their belt leading up to the game, they arguably played two of the weakest teams in the men’s tournament. In general, the Spanish team selection has been attack-minded, which was evident from their two prior victories, having found the net five times between them. The star-studded lineup featured forward Abel Ruiz and attacking midfielder Sergio Gomez as two of their three permitted players over 23.
While they had been incredibly strong on an attacking front, they hadn’t shown the same prowess defensively, conceding goals and consequently, equalisers, in both of their matches up until that point—a marked difference from how the Spanish women’s team was performing. After having played Uzbekistan and the Dominican Republic, the Egypt game was set to be Spain’s biggest contest of the group stage yet.
Assessing the history of both teams’ performances in the two previous matchups, for punter, all the stats pointed to a game where both teams were likely to score in the match. With neither side tasting defeat in either of their opening games, a single point was enough for both to get over the line.
2024 marks Egypt’s 13th appearance in the Olympics and the African team was favoured to advance to the knockout stages. To achieve this, however, they needed to put in a strong performance. Before the game against Spain, Egypt had four points and a three-point lead over the third team in the group, having drawn 0-0 with the Dominican Republic and defeated Uzbekistan 1-0.
Egypt’s only chance to progress was if they won or drew against Spain, or if the Dominican Republic failed to defeat Uzbekistan in their match. If not, they would be eliminated, making the stakes high for the Pharaohs.
Despite all the pressure on the Egyptians, 23-year-old Ibrahim Adel proved inspirational as he scored on the stroke of halftime. While the game was levelled later through Juanlu Sánchez, Adel would pop up again in the 62nd minute to score a second goal that proved decisive. While recent results from the senior team have certainly showcased the best of Spain, the two nations’ history in the Olympics was more complex. Here’s a look at how they fared in the past.
Why the Result Was Such a Surprise
Spain and Egypt have met twice before in Olympic history. In the 1992 Olympics, Spain won 2-0 while their second match in 2020 ended in a 0-0 draw. This left fans in anticipation of their third clash that took place on Tuesday, July 30.
In their last five Olympic matches, Spain had won four times and lost once. Meanwhile, Egypt had won twice, lost twice, and drawn once. This all pointed to Spain as the stronger contender for a victory. Statistically, Spain was also the outright favourites despite already securing a place in the knockout stage. In fact, before the match, according to many predictions, Spain was given a 60% chance of winning.
The factors taken into account also produced some great opportunities for value bets, especially for anyone who may have been brave enough to bet on an Egypt win. These days, sports betting has become a complex endeavour with sports analytics playing a major role, multiple metrics being taken into account, and every statistic analysed to death. However, as football fans know all too well, in this sport sometimes form and history are simply tossed out the window and it ultimately comes down to who performs better on the night.
The Egyptian Olympic Team comparatively had a win probability of only 16.2%, making them thorough underdogs on the night. With plenty of great matches to come, time will tell if Egypt just managed to pull off a one-time upset or actually have the credentials to build on the victory and go much further.
The published material expresses the position of the author, which may not coincide with the opinion of the editor.