Spain U23svs.Egypt U23s

The Europeans have successfully made it through to the knockout stages, while their African counterparts still have work to do on that front.

Match preview

Spain put on a show in their 3-1 win against first-time participants Dominican Republic on Saturday afternoon in Bordeaux.

Santi Denia's men made a bright start to the contest and edged ahead through Fermin Lopez but surrendered their advantage to Angel Montes de Oca seven minutes before the break after which Alex Baena and Miguel Gutierrez struck in the second half to settle matters.

Prior to that, Spain claimed a 2-1 win over Uzbekistan in their opening fixture and are one of only three teams with a 100% record after two rounds of matches.

Unsurprisingly, they currently lead the way in Group C, two points clear of Egypt ahead of the clash in Bordeaux with top spot on the line.

Looking to go one better than their last appearance at this level, the 2021 finalists now set out to keep the juggernaut rolling with a dominant display before taking to the field for the quarter-finals.

Egypt just about did enough to scrape a narrow 1-0 victory at the expense of Uzbekistan when the sides locked horns at Stade de la Beaujoire on Saturday.

They got their noses in front thanks to Ahmed Nabil Koka before putting on a solid defensive display in the second half to make sure of the points.

With four points on the board from two matches so far, Rogerio Micale's men are second in Group C at the moment, three points clear of Dominican Republic in the race to qualify alongside Spain.

Needing just a point from their final group outing to confirm a knockout berth, Egypt also have the opportunity to record their highest-ever points tally at the Olympic games.

Spain Olympic Games Men's Football form:

W

W

Egypt Olympic Games Men's Football form:

D

W

Team News

Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez was directly involved in two of Spain's three goals against Dominican Republic and will be aiming to come up with the goods once again.

Miguel Gutierrez came off the bench in the aforementioned game to score the clincher and could be rewarded with a start here.

Pau Cubarsi is suspended for this one due to accumulation of yellow cards, paving the way for Jon Pacheco to feature right from the off.

Egypt are yet to concede a goal across their two matches and Micale will be expected to name an unchanged defensive unit for the third game running.

Midfielder Ahmed Nabil Koka is on course to retain his place in the XI having made the most of his first start of the competition last time out where he scored the winner.

Spain possible starting lineup:

Garcia; Gutierrez, Pacheco, Garcia, Sanchez; Turrientes, Bernabe, Fermin; Oroz, Omorodion, Gomez

Egypt possible starting lineup:

Alaa; El Debes, Abdelmaguid, Fayed, Eid; Koka, Elneny, Shehata; Adel, Faisal, Zizo

We say: Spain 2-0 Egypt

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