Paris 2024 Women’s Soccer Gameday Odds (July 25) – New Zealand vs. Canada Prediction

While the opening ceremonies for the Paris 2024 Olympics aren’t until Friday, some of the competitions will get started ahead of time. Among those is the women’s soccer tournament, which is poised to be one of the most-watched events of the Games. Unlike the men’s tournament, which is by and large a U23 Showcase, the women’s tournament is treated like a major tournament by most senior programs around the globe and approached with much of the same seriousness as the FIFA Women’s World Cup, meaning some of the game’s top stars will be looking to show their best stuff.

Canada, who won their first-ever gold medal in Tokyo three years ago, will be looking to begin their defence against New Zealand, though controversy has suddenly reared its head just before kickoff.

11:00 a.m. ET Headliner: New Zealand vs. Canada

Canada Win	-370	New Zealand Win	+1000	Draw	+390
Over 2.5 Goals	-161	Under 2.5 Goals	+115	Broadcast	CBC

Before we can get to the actual game, we have to address the elephant in the room. Before any of the action kicks off, the Canadians find themselves in potentially deep trouble. The New Zealand team accused a member of the Canadian staff of flying a drone over their practice in Saint-Etienne on Monday, along with a potential previous practice, potentially to record footage.

The IOC and FIFA are immediately investigating the issue, and Canada has already taken some steps to rectify the situation, sending the analyst who flew the drone home along with the assistant coach to whom the analyst reports. Bev Priestman, the team’s head coach, is removing herself from the bench on Thursday and has publicly apologized for the program’s actions. This is voluntary, though we’ll see if and when she returns.

The analyst, Joseph Lombardi, has also been arrested and charged with a suspended sentence. Operating a drone in a prohibited area is not only unethical in soccer terms but illegal in French law.

Needless to say, it is not the distraction you want going into the start of the tournament, particularly when you consider the diminishing returns in the first place. While you generally want to play by the book in all circumstances, recording a practice of the bottom-ranked team in the event seems like a poor time to tip your “get accused of espionage” hand. So much so that it puts the seriousness of the effort into question, but either way, even the appearance of an issue is a must-avoid.

There’s still a game to play here, though, and it’s one where Canada is heavily favoured. Not including penalty kicks, Canada enters the tournament undefeated in its last 14 games, with their last loss coming against Brazil last October, with a grudge match win three days later launching their current run of form. Since bowing out of the group stage at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Canada has gone to the Semi-Finals of the CONCACAF Women’s Cold Cup, and the Final of the Shebelieves Cup, ultimately losing both to the United States in penalties.

New Zealand has been in slightly rockier form, playing five friendlies since April and only coming out ahead once, in the first of those five. Most recently, they fell 2-0 and 4-1 to Japan in a pair of friendlies and tied Zambia 1-1.

Game Bets To Consider

• While Canada is still firmly in favour to win this game, I could be talked into taking Both Teams To Score at +105. You have to imagine the chaos of this drone controversy, and the removal of two members of the coaching staff from the Canadian bench will put the game in a little bit of disarray, so a breakdown or two on Canada’s end wouldn’t be terribly shocking.
• I do think a Canadian goal is almost certain. Who should you like to convert? Andriana Leon has the shortest odds at +100 anytime and +345 to score first, which lines up with her being the team’s most efficient scorer at the last Olympics. Jordyn Huitema is another name I’d keep an eye on – she generated a lot of Canada’s looks at the Women’s World Cup last year but failed to convert. Now a year older and wiser, the 23-year-old is in a good position to make an impact. You can get her to score at +140 anytime, or +470 to score first.

Other Olympic Soccer Games On July 25

There are five other games being played on July 25th.

The most attention will likely be placed on the two 3:00 p.m. ET games, with France being the hosts and the United States being the most popular team in the land, though the fact that both are playing bottom-four teams doesn’t bode well for tight betting value, much like Canada’s opening game.

On the other end, there should be more excitement as #1 Spain takes on #7 Japan, and #4 Germany takes on #12 Australia. The former game is particularly intriguing, given Japan’s 4-0 blowout of Spain in the Women’s World Cup last year.

Away Team		Draw		Home Team	Time (ET)
Canada	-370	+390	+1000	New Zealand	11:00 AM
Spain	-182	+315	+420	Japan	11:00 AM
Germany	-154	+270	+380	Australia	1:00 PM
Nigeria	+460	+285	-182	Brazil	1:00 PM
France	-312	+390	+700	Colombia	3:00 PM
United States	-2000	+825	+3100	Zambia	3:00 PM

Latest 2024 Olympic Women’s Soccer Odds

Here are the latest Paris 2024 women’s soccer outright odds, heading into the matches on July 25th:

Team		Last Match	Team		Last Match
Spain	+185	+185	Australia	+1900	+1900
USA	+225	+225	Canada	+2400	+2400
France	+400	+400	Colombia	+2900	+2900
Germany	+1200	+1200	Nigeria	+7900	+7900
Brazil	+1400	+1400	Zambia	+7900	+7900
Japan	+1400	+1400	New Zealand	+9900	+9900

Could the Summer of Spain continue? Fresh off the mens team’s win at EURO 2024, La Roja have an opportunity to double up here. The program is in their own Golden Generation, winning the Women’s World Cup last year and UEFA Nations League this year, losing just two games across the two tournaments.

The United States will always find themselves near the top of these ranks, even if this isn’t their most-hyped group in recent history. Canada currently sits in a somewhat-distant eighth seed, with room to climb, or be disrupted by everything that’s going on. Let’s see what story they write for themselves!