Australia vs Zambia Preview & Prediction | Paris 2024 Olympics | Women’s Football | Group Stage
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Coming into the tournament, Australia were tipped up to go for a medal in Paris but they began with a 3-0 humbling at the hands of the Germans, whilst Zambia walked away quite proudly from a defeat to the United States by the same scoreline.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Sunday 28th July, 2024, UK – 6:00pm / US ET – 1:00pm / US PT – 10:00am
HOW TO WATCH THE PARIS OLYMPICS ON TV: UK – BBC is the main broadcaster while some event will be televised on Eurosport / US – NBC is the main broadcaster while some events will be shown on NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network and Telemundo
HOW TO WATCH THE PARIS OLYMPICS ONLINE: UK – BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website & Eurosport Player / US – Events can be streamed on the relevant streaming platforms of NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network and Telemundo
AUSTRALIA PREVIEW: STRUGGLING WITH A BIG LOSS
Sam Kerr was ruled out of the Olympics back in December with a long-term serious knee injury and her absence was shown up quite a lot with a lack of quality in the final third of their game at the Stade Velodrome against Germany the other day.
The Australians fell behind before half-time with a goal scored by Marina Hegering in the 24th minute. However, the Aussies were then sliced apart on the counter-attack in the second-half with quick-fire strikes from Lea Schuller and Jule Brand.
ZAMBIA PREVIEW: PRIDE IN DEFEAT
Simply qualifying for this summer’s Olympics is a massive achievement for the Zambians and they are the lowest ranked team in the tournament. Their 3-0 defeat to the USWNT, especially in the circumstances, was therefore a reasonable result.
The Zambians found themselves 3-0 down to one of the pre-tournament favourites inside just 25 minutes with a goal from Trinity Rodman and a brace scored by Mallory Pugh. They then had Pauline Zulu sent off with about an hour to go but rallied well to prevent a humiliation.
AUSTRALIA VS ZAMBIA PREDICTION
After finishing fourth at the last Olympics and then fourth at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Australia had high hopes for getting on the podium this time around. However, without Sam Kerr, there is a dip in quality in the Australian squad. Zambia, though, despite the resilience they showed against the USA, remain the weakest team in the competition so Australia should get back on track with something approaching a comfortable victory in this one.
AUSTRALIA VS ZAMBIA TIP: AUSTRALIA TO WIN -1 HANDICAP
