Guinea and New Zealand have the honour of kicking off Group A of the men's football tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympics when they clash at the Allianz Riviera in Nice on Wednesday.
The African nation are competing at their first Games since the 1968 edition, while New Zealand were present at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, finishing in sixth place.
Match preview
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Taking part in just their second Olympics men's football tournament, Guinea's Games debut in the 1968 edition actually saw the African outfit only send a men's football team, where they crashed out in the group stage with just one win to their name.
Fifty-six years later, the National Elephants are making their long-awaited return to the quadrennial extravaganza thanks to their exploits on the continent, having made the semi-finals of the Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations last year.
Despite suffering a 1-0 loss to Mali - who automatically qualified for the Games alongside Morocco and Egypt - Guinea were given a second bite at the cherry in the AFC–CAF playoff, where Indonesia stood between them and a jaunt to Paris.
With just under half an hour on the clock, former Barcelona starlet Ilaix Moriba stroked home the penalty that ended Guinea's Olympic men's football exile, although Kaba Diawara's side are not fancied by many to pip France or the USA to a top-two finish.
However, the 1-0 success over Indonesia represents the second of three straight wins for Guinea, who also defeated Argentina by the same scoreline in a July 19 friendly courtesy of Mohamed Soumah's effort, but New Zealand were on the goalscoring warpath in qualifying.
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To Darren Bazeley's side, Olympic qualification was little more than a training exercise, as New Zealand topped their OFC group thanks to a 3-1 success over Fiji and an awarded 3-0 win over Papua New Guinea, who were unable to travel for their encounter.
The OlyWhites then made incredibly light work of Vanuatu in an 8-0 semi-final obliteration, before astonishingly managing to go one better when they reunited with Fiji in the final, putting nine unanswered goals past their former group foes.
As a result, a fourth Games appearance from five Olympics awaits New Zealand, who failed to make it out of the group stage during their Beijing 2008 debut or London 2012 run, but the third time was the charm as far as knockout qualification was concerned.
Indeed, the OlyWhites progressed to the quarter-finals in Tokyo, only to suffer penalty heartbreak at the hands of Japan, and their solitary warm-up fixture against Uzbekistan on July 18 ended in a 3-1 defeat at the Allianz Riviera.
Bazeley's side at least got a taste of the Nice surroundings before pitting their wits against Guinea, after which the daunting battles against France and the United States take precedence.
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Team News
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All three of Guinea's overage players are in Diawara's midfield ranks, including former Liverpool and RB Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita, who experienced a nightmarish first season with Werder Bremen.
Abdoulaye Toure of Le Havre and Anderlecht's Amadou Diawara also bring valuable experience to the engine room, where Moriba - who has not quite reached his full potential at club level - should also start.
A good chunk of Guinea's players are Ligue 1 or Ligue 2-based, including 20-year-old goalkeeper Soumaila Sylla, who should act as the last line of defence in a 4-2-3-1 setup.
As far as New Zealand are concerned, Bazeley has plucked a few players from across the globe, and new Bournemouth signing Alex Paulsen should be his number one goalkeeper throughout the duration of the Olympics.
Paulsen is one of three England-based players in the ranks, along with Reading defender Tyler Bindon and Plymouth Argyle forward Ben Waine, but the latter faces stiff competition in attack.
Five of New Zealand's nine goals against Fiji were scored by 22-year-old Riley Bidois, who represents Loudoun United in the second tier of football in the United States.
Guinea U23s possible starting lineup:
S. Sylla; Oulare, Soumah, Doucoure, M. Keita; N. Keita, Toure; Diallo, Moriba, Bah; O. Camara
New Zealand Under-23s possible starting lineup:
Paulsen; Sheridan, Bindon, Boxall, Sutton; Bell, Garbett; Gillion, Singh, Randall; Bidois
We say: Guinea U23s 1-1 New Zealand Under-23s
As merciless as New Zealand were during their qualification period, with no disrespect to Fiji or Vanuatu, Guinea are made of much tougher stuff.
On this occasion, we just cannot pick a clear winner and expect the two knockout hopefuls to shake hands on a point apiece, not an awful start for either manager.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
