Uzbekistan vs Spain

Parc des Princes forms the backdrop for an exciting 2022 Summer Olympic Games Group C opener between debutants Uzbekistan and last tournament’s runners-up Spain.

Uzbekistan landed a place at the Olympic Games for the first time, courtesy of a 2-0 victory against Indonesia in April, but they head into the competition as massive underdogs. With only Iraq, Dominican Republic, and New Zealand given less chance to conquer the tournament, Uzbekistan’s hopes of upsetting second-favorite Spain look slim. The country’s bid to make a standout result in France resulted in the creation of FC Olympics, a team that only featured players eligible for the games and joined the domestic championship in 2022. However, manager Timur Kapadze can’t expect much fluidity from this squad, considering only four players from that hybrid roster have made the 22-man squad for the Summer Olympics.

On the other hand, Spain will enter the Olympics with a feel-good factor around the squad after the senior national team became the first European side to win four UEFA European Championship titles with a 2-1 win against England earlier in July. Alex Baena and Fermin Lopez, who were part of that title-winning squad, will feature for Santi Denia’s team, with the Spaniards searching for their first gold medal at the Olympics since 1992. They’ve since contested two grand finals in 2000 and 2020 but lost on both occasions. Traditionally fast starters, La Roja have lost their Olympic curtain-raising game only once in their five previous appearances in the competition (W3, D1).