Olympics women’s football odds: Team GB face tough task in Japan
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Olympics women’s football odds and preview
The women’s football tournament at the delayed Olympics in Japan gets under way on Wednesday and Great Britain are one of the favourites to win the gold medal.
There are just 12 teams competing in Tokyo and Hege Riise’s England-heavy squad is available at 7/1 to win the event for the first time.
Team GB kick off the group stage against Chile on Wednesday morning but let’s look at the Olympics women’s football odds.
United States
The United States have won four of the eight tournaments and are 8/13 in the Olympics women’s football odds to make it a fifth on the back of a 44-game unbeaten run.
Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath, Carli Lloyd and Christen Press are in the 22-woman squad and having not lost a match in almost two and a half years, it is no surprise to see them heading the field.
👩👧 Motherhood and coping with separation
💪 Returning stronger and fitter
🎢 #Olympic highs and lows🇺🇸 Ahead of facing Rio 2016 conquerors Sweden at #Tokyo2020, Alex Morgan speaks in depth about memories and motivation 🗣️@alexmorgan13 | @USWNT | @Tokyo2020
— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) July 19, 2021
The world champions warmed up for the Olympics with six successive victories without conceding, including back-to-back 4-0 wins against Mexico.
They kick off their campaign against the 2016 runners-up Sweden, who are the only team to have avoided defeat against USA in 23 matches and they were three minutes away from victory in that friendly back in April.
Netherlands
The Dutch ended a run of six successive European titles for Germany when they beat Denmark 4-2 in the final four years ago and are 11/2 in the Olympics women’s football odds.
Netherlands lost 2-0 to the United States at the 2019 World Cup final in Paris but their preparations have been so-so with 7-0 and 5-0 victories against Norway and Australia mixed with 1-0 defeats by Spain and Italy.
Sarina Wiegman will take charge of the Dutch for the last time before she starts work as England head coach and she has some excellent players in her 22-man squad.
Lieke Martens recently won the treble with Barcelona, Arsenal striker Vivianne Miedema became the WSL’s all-time top goalscorer in October and Lineth Beerensteyn helped Bayern Munich win the league title for the first time in five years.
Great Britain
Riise, a gold medal winner with Norway in Sydney 21 years ago, has chosen 19 England players in her 22-woman squad, including FIFA’s world player of the year Lucy Bronze.
Great Britain are up against Chile, hosts Japan and Canada, the team that beat England 2-0 in a friendly in April.
Three leaders. Three co-captains for our women's football side.
Congrats to @sophieingle01, @stephhoughton2 and Kim Little!#TeamGB #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/tYpiflcMAU
— Team GB (@TeamGB) July 15, 2021
However, their build-up has been limited to a behind-closed-doors 3-0 victory over New Zealand in which Ellen White scored a double and Nikita Parris also found the net.
Despite the England players not having played a competitive match since the 2019 World Cup at which they finished third, they are 7/1 in the Olympics women’s football odds.
Best of the rest
Sweden beat England 2-1 to finish third at the 2019 World Cup and won the silver medal at the 2016 Olympics so they have a good pedigree in international football in the last five years and are 12/1 to win the tournament.
The Swedes are unbeaten in 12 games but that run will be put to the test when they face USA, the world’s number one-ranked team, on Wednesday.
Brazil lost to the USA in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic finals and their only appearance in the World Cup’s championship match came 14 years ago when they lost to Germany.
Pia Sundhage, the former USA and Sweden coach, is in charge of a squad that have lost just one of their last eight games, a 2-0 defeat by the USA at the SheBelieves Cup in February, and they are 14/1 for gold.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
