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New Zealand pulled off a shock win in their opening game to mean they head into their final fixture of the group stages, against hosts France, with a chance of progressing. France, on the other hand, have already eased through to the quarter-finals.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Tuesday 30th 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
NEW ZEALAND PREVIEW: KIWI SPIRIT
Englishman Darren Bazeley is attempting to make New Zealand competitive on the global stage with qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup out of Oceania all but a formality in reality. They showed a real level of competitiveness in their opener as they defeated Guinea by two goals to one.
However, that victory was backed up by the Kiwi’s suffering a 4-1 hammering at the hands of the United States. They found themselves 3-0 down inside half an hour before Jesse Randall scored a potentially important consolation late on.
FRANCE PREVIEW: UNCONVINCING FRENCH
Thierry Henry does not have the strongest possible France squad that would have been available to him but his pre-tournament favourites have still got six points on the board without conceding a goal after their opening two matches.
It did, though, take them an hour to break the United States’ stubborn defence down before running out as 3-0 winners before they then edged past Guinea with that game also requiring a late opener scored by Kiliann Sildillia.
NEW ZEALAND VS FRANCE PREDICTION
New Zealand have proven themselves to be stubborn in their most recent tournaments on the global stage but their 4-1 hammering at the hands of USA does make one think what could the French do to them. The reason Jesse Randall’s consolation could be crucial is because it could prevent the USA going through on goal difference if Guinea manage to win by two or more against them in the other game in this group. It is win or bust for New Zealand here, and even then it may not be enough, and the expectation is that what they need will not matter anyway with France favourites to win and also keep their 100% clean sheet record intact.
NEW ZEALAND VS FRANCE TIP: FRANCE TO WIN TO NIL