Argentina's senior side have become a dominant force on the international stage having won the 2022 World Cup and back-to-back Copa America titles, but can their youngsters continue the country's success at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games?
The South American giants, managed by Javier Mascherano, will be the favourites to progress from Group B, but they must test their mettle against Morocco, Iraq, Ukraine who will all attempt to pull off an upset.
Here, Sports Mole provides an in-depth summary of Group B at the Paris 2024 Olympics, including standing, fixtures, predictions and everything you need to know about the four teams.
OLYMPIC FOOTBALL 2024 GROUP B FIXTURES
July 24: Argentina vs. Morocco (2pm | Stade Geoffroy-Guichard)
July 24: Iraq vs. Ukraine (6pm | Stade de Lyon)
July 27: Argentina vs. Iraq (2pm | Stade de Lyon)
July 27: Ukraine vs. Morocco (5pm | Stade Geoffroy-Guichard)
July 30: Ukraine vs. Argentina (4pm | Stade de Lyon)
July 30: Morocco vs. Iraq (4pm | Stade de Nice)
All kickoff times BST
OLYMPIC FOOTBALL 2024 GROUP B TEAMS
ARGENTINA
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Previous Olympics: Nine
Best result: Gold medal (Athens 2004, Beijing 2008)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Group Stage
Qualification: Finished in second place of the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament
Head coach: Javier Mascherano
SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Leandro Brey (Boca Juniors), Geronimo Rulli (Ajax)
Defenders: Marco Di Cesare (Racing Club), Julio Soler (Lanus), Joaquin Garcia (Velez Sarsfield), Gonzalo Lujan (San Lorenzo), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Bruno Amione (Santos Laguna)
Midfielders: Ezequiel Fernandez (Boca Juniors), Santiago Hezze (Olympiacos), Cristian Medina (Boca Juniors), Kevin Zenon (Boca Juniors)
Forwards: Giuliano Simeone (Atletico Madrid), Luciano Gondou (Argentinos Juniors), Thiago Almada (Atlanta United), Claudio Echeverri (Manchester City), Julian Alvarez (Manchester City), Lucas Beltran (Fiorentina)
MOROCCO
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Previous Olympics: Seven
Best result: Second round (Munich 1972)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Did not compete
Qualification: Winners of the 2023 Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations
Head coach: Tarik Sektioui
SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Alaa Bellaarouch (Strasbourg), Walid Hasbi (Strasbourg), Rachid Ghanimi (FUS Rabat), Mohamed Reda Asmama (Union Touarga)
Defenders: Omar El Hilali (Espanyol), Zakaria Elouahdi (Genk), Mohamed Jaouab (Amiens), Mehdi Boukamir (Charleroi), Ayman Elwafi (Lugano), Adil Tahif (RS Berkane), Ayoub Amraoui (Amiens), Adam Aznou (Bayern Munich), Akram Nakach (Union Touarga), Haytam Manaout (Union Touarga)
Midfielders: Benjamin Bouchouari (Saint-Etienne), Yassine Kechta (Le Havre), Mohamed Nassoh (PSV Eindhoven), Amine Souane (MC Oujda)
Forwards: Montassir Lahtimi (Wydad Casablanca), Salim Eljebari (Atletico Madrid), Amine Elouazzani (Guingamp), Yanis Begraoui (Pau FC), El Mehdi Maouhoub (Raja de Casablanca), Tawfik Bentayeb (Union Touarga), Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Real Betis), Ibrahim Salah (Rennes)
IRAQ
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Previous Olympics: Five
Best result: Fourth (Athens 2004)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Did not compete
Qualification: Finished third at the AFC Under-23 Asian Cup 2024
Head coach: Radhi Shenaishil
SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Kumel Al-Rekabe (Naft Al-Basra), Hassan Abbas (Amanat Baghdad), Hussein Hassan (Al-Karkh)
Defenders: Josef Al-Imam (Olympic), Ahmed Maknzi (Erbil), Zaid Tahseen (Al-Talaba), Hussein Amer (Naft Maysan), Mustafa Saadoon (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya), Karrar Saad (Al-Talaba), Saad Natiq (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya), Hussein Ali (Heerenveen)
Midfielders: Ali Jassim (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya), Blnd Hassan (De Graafschap), Nihad Mohammed (Al-Talaba), Muntadher Mohammed (Esteghlal FC), Karrar Mohammed Al-Mukhtar (Al-Talaba), Muntadher Abdul-Amir (Al-Zawraa), Ibrahim Bayesh (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya), Youssef Amyn (Eintracht Braunschweig)
Forwards: Hussein Abdullah (Al-Talaba), Ridha Fadhil (Amanat Baghdad), Aymen Hussein (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
UKRAINE
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Previous Olympics: N/A
Best result: N/A
Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Did not compete
Qualification: Progressed to the semi-finals of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Head coach: Ruslan Rotan
SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Yakiv Kinareikin (Dnipro-1), Kirill Fesyun (Shakhtar Donetsk), Georgiy Yermakov (Oleksandriya Oleksandriya)
Defenders: Maksym Taloverov (LASK Linz), Arseniy Batagov (Zorya Luhansk), Ilya Krupskiy (Vorskla Poltava), Yevhen Pavliuk (Vorskla Poltava), Oleksandr Martyniuk (Oleksandriya Oleksandriya), Oleksiy Sych (Rukh Lviv), Volodymyr Saliuk (Chornomorets Odesa)
Midfielders: Maksym Hlan (Lechia, Poland), Valentyn Rubchynskyi (Dnipro-1), Artem Shulianskyi (Oleksandriia Oleksandriia), Maksym Bragaru (Dynamo Kyiv), Mykola Mykhailenko (Dynamo Kyiv), Vladyslav Velyten (Kolos Kovalivka), Oleh Fedor (Rukh Lviv), Dmytro Kryskiv (Shakhtar Donetsk), Kyrylo Sigeev (Shakhtar Donetsk), Oleh Ocheretko (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Forwards: Ihor Krasnopir (Rukh Lviv), Danylo Sikan (Shakhtar Donetsk)
OLYMPIC FOOTBALL 2024 GROUP B PREDICTION
Argentina may have flattered to deceive at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but they will be the overwhelming favourites to finish top of Group A at this summer's tournament and should have few problems securing safe passage through to the knockout rounds.
Morocco possess enough talent from across Europe to push Argentina for top spot, but they will likely battle with tournament debutants Ukraine for the second qualification spot.
There is little to separate both Morocco and Ukraine, but we feel that the former may just pip the latter to second place, while Iraq, arguably the weakest team in the group, may have to settle for fourth place.
Oliver Thomas
