Egypt vs Dominican Republic

Egypt’s quest to make it out of the 2024 Olympic Games Group C commences at Nantes’ Stade de la Beaujoire against minnows Dominican Republic.

After guiding his native Brazil to Olympic glory in 2016, Egypt head coach Rogerio Micale hopes to inspire the African powerhouse to their first-ever gold medal this summer. Though they’ve failed to climb to the throne in all 12 previous attempts, they’re no strangers to making deep runs, having secured two fourth-place finishes in 1928 and 1964. On top of that, they’ve reached the quarter-finals in both Olympic appearances in the 21st century. Despite Egypt’s decent track record at the tournament, they’ll rely on 15 players plying their trade in their domestic championship. The Pharaohs qualified for the competition as last year’s under-23 Africa Cup of Nations runners-up, losing to Morocco in the grand final despite not conceding a single goal before the showpiece event.

Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic’s maiden appearance at the Olympic Games could be painful, with only two sides given fewer chances of conquering the tournament. They secured a runner-up finish at the 2022 CONCACAF U20 Championship, while the team’s hopes of upsetting the apple cart received a boost earlier this year as Leeds United wingback Junior Firpo pledged his allegiance to the Dominican Republic, having previously played for Spain. In charge of Los Quisqueyanos is experienced Spanish manager Ibai Gomez, who arrived at the helm in February but didn’t have enough time to test out his squad. It’s worth noting that just one Dominican player features in the domestic championship.