2024 Olympic Football: Group D Predictions, Standings & Fixtures

Four teams from various federations are in Group D at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and it could be a very competitive tournament.
 
Japan, which hosted the most recent Olympics in Tokyo, Mali, and Israel, will compete in the same group as Paraguay, a South American squad that won silver in 2004 in Athens.
 
In this comprehensive article, we cover all the information you would want on the four teams that comprise Group D at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, including their standings, schedules, forecasts, and more.
 

OLYMPIC FOOTBALL 2024 GROUP D FIXTURES

July 24: Japan vs. Paraguay (6pm | Stade de Bordeaux)
July 24: Mali vs. Israel (8pm | Parc des Princes)
July 27: Israel vs. Paraguay (6pm | Parc des Princes)
July 27: Japan vs. Mali (8pm | Stade de Bordeaux)
July 30: Israel vs. Japan (8pm | Stade de la Beaujoire)
July 30: Paraguay v Mali (8pm | Parc des Princes)

Olympic 2024 Group A Team Previews

Japan

Previous Olympics: 11
Best result: Bronze medal (Mexico City 1968)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Fourth place

Goalkeepers: Leobrian Kokubo (Benfica), Taishi Nozawa (FC Tokyo) Sasaki Masato Sasaki (Kashiwa Reysol)

Defenders: Riku Handa (Gamba Osaka), Ayumu Ohata (Urawa Reds), Ryuya Nishio (Cerezo Osaka), Seiji Kimura (Sagan Tosu), Hiroki Sekine (Kashiwa Reysol), Kota Takai (Kawasaki Frontale), Kaito Suzuki (Jubilo Iwata)

Midfielders: Sota Kawasaki (Kyoto Sanga), Rihito Yamamoto (Sint-Truiden VV), Ryutaro Araki (FC Tokyo), Joel Chima Fujita (Sint-Truiden VV), Shunsuke Mito (Sparta Rotterdam), Sano Kodai (NEC Nijmegen), Fuki Yamada (Tokyo Verdy)

Forwards: Yu Hirakawa (Machida Zelvia), Shota Fujio (Machida), Kein Sato (Werder Bremen), Koki Saito (Rommel SK), Mao Hosoya (Kashiwa)

Mali

Previous Olympics: One
Best result: Quarter-finals (Athens 2004)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Did not compete

Goalkeepers: Lassine Diarra (Lyon), Oumar Coulibaly (Olympique Bamako), DIARRA Hassane Diarra (Real Bamako)

Defenders: Fode Doucoure (Red Star), Hamidou Diallo (Farense), Mamadou Tounkara (Vitoria de Guimaraes, Ibrahima Cisse (Schalke 04), Mohamed Cisset (Nittany Lions), Ahmed Diomande (Ittifaq Marrakech)

Midfielders: Coli Saco (Ancona), Boubacar Traore (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Salam Jiddou (ES Setif), Issouf Sissokho (Bordeaux), Brahima Diarra (Huddersfield Town), Moussa Diakite (Cadiz), Mahamadou Bah (Olympique Beja), Fady Coulibaly (Stade Malien)

Forwards: Wilson Samake (Rennes), Cheickna Doumbia (Shabab Al-Ahli), Thiemoko Diarra (Chateauroux), Demba Diallo (Manisa), Issou Maiga (Academico De Viseu FC)

Paraguay

Previous Olympics: Two
Best result: Silver medal (Athens 2004)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Did not compete

Goalkeepers: Roberto Fernandez (Botafogo), Rodrigo Frutos (Olimpia), Facundo Insfran (Club Olimpia)

Defenders: Fabian Balbuena (Dynamo Moscow), Alexis Cantero (Guarani), Ronaldo De Jesus (Cerro Porteno), Gilberto Flores (Sportivo Trinidense), Alan Nunez (Cerro Porteno), Daniel Rivas (Nacional), Fernando Roman (Guarani)

Midfielders: Diego Gomez (Inter Miami), Marcos Gomez (Olimpia), Ruben Lezcano (Libertad), Wilder Viera (Cerro Porteno)

Forwards: Julio Enciso (Brighton & Hove Albion), Marcelo Fernandez (Libertad), Diego Gonzalez (Lazio), Kevin Parzajuk (Olimpia), Marcelo Perez (Huracan), Enso Gonzalez (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Ruben Lezcano (Libertad), Gustavo Caballero (National), Tiago Caballero (National)

Israel

Previous Olympics: Two
Best result: Quarter-finals (Mexico 1968, Montreal 1976)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Did not compete

Goalkeepers: Daniel Peretz (Bayern Munich), Niv Eliasi (Hapoel Be'er Sheva), Omer Niron (Maccabi Netanya)

Defenders: Ilay Feingold (Maccabi Haifa), Sean Goldberg (Maccabi Haifa), Stav Lemkin (Shakhtar Donetsk), Roy Revivo (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Noam Ben Harush (Hapoel Haifa), Or Israelov (Hapoel Tel Aviv)

Midfielders: Omri Gandelman (Gent), Ethan Azoulay (Maccabi Netanya), Oscar Gloukh (Red Bull Salzburg), Ayanaw Ferede (Hapoel Jerusalem), Adi Yona (Beitar Jersusalem), Ido Shahar (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Niv Yehosoua (Maccabi Petach-Tikva), Noam Melamud (Hapoel Jerusalem)

Forwards: Osher Davida (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Dor Turgeman (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Liel Abada (Charlotte FC), Elad Madmon (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Idan Toklomati (Maccabi Petach-Tikva)

Our Olympic 2024 Group D Predictions

Japan will enter this summer's competition with high hopes after winning their group and making it to the semi-finals in Tokyo 2020. However, it is surprising that Go Oiwa has chosen to exclude players under 18 from his roster.
 
With Brighton star Julio Enciso on their roster, Paraguay should be fine competing with Japan for the top place in the group. We predict that Carlos Jara Saguier's South American squad will win Group D after a notable victory against Argentina and the defending champions Brazil (who did not make it to the Olympics) in the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament.
 
Israel and Mali may not advance to the next round if Japan takes second place; neither country's chances of finishing in the top two are eliminated.

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