New Zealand vs France Preview & Prediction | Paris 2024 Olympics | Women’s Football | Group Stage
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After a controversial Group A, in which Canada have been deducted six points for an illegal drone spy ahead of their clash with New Zealand, hosts France find themselves in a precarious position where they could do with a win in their final match.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Wednesday 31st July, 2024, UK – 8:00pm / US ET – 3:00pm / US PT – 12:00pm
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: STILL IN WITH A SHOUT
New Zealand lost their opening game to Canada by two goals to one before the aforementioned illegal drone spy scandal kicked off. They do, though, remain just about in contention for a potential quarter-final spot.
The Kiwis followed up their loss to Canada by losing 2-0 to Colombia in their second game at Stade de Lyon with goals from Marcela Restrepo and Leicy Santos for the South Americans. They do need a goal difference swing and results to go their way in order to progress.
FRANCE PREVIEW: PRESSURE ON RENARD
Under the management of former Saudi Arabia and Zambia boss Herve Renard, the French began their home Olympics with a 3-2 defeat of Colombia but that was a lot more nervous than they would have wanted after leading 3-0 at half-time.
In their second match of the tournament, they faced a Canadian side that quite simply needed to win to stand a chance of progression and, despite leading 1-0 at half-time, France succumbed to a 2-1 loss with Canada scoring a 102nd minute winner in that match.
NEW ZEALAND VS FRANCE PREDICTION
New Zealand are one of the weaker sides in the 12-team Olympic tournament, despite their improvement and dominance in Oceanian football. They proved to be stubborn against the now confirmed to be cheating defending champions of Canada before being comfortably beaten by Colombia. France are under pressure given their couple of wobbles but the hosts are still expected to produce a performance at some stage and it could well be here.
NEW ZEALAND VS FRANCE TIP: FRANCE TO WIN -1 HANDICAP
