Croatia vs Sweden Prediction & Betting Tips - Men's Olympics Handball

Prediction published on 31/07/2024, 08:00  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 31/07/2024 at 19:00 in Men's Olympics Handball Predictions

Sweden are in fifth place in Group A after their first three matches. A top four finish is needed to go into the quarter-finals of this Olympic tournament. Friday sees a vital match against second-placed Croatia. Read our prediction for this important match.

Croatia have four points from their first three group games. The top four qualify for the knockout stages and the Swedes are two points behind them. After this match, Croatia end the group with a final fixture against Spain who are third in the table, also on four points.

The Croatians had to come from five goals down to beat Japan by a one-goal margin in their opening group game. Defeat followed in their next match as they were beaten 31-29 by Slovenia. A second win was on its way as they defeated Germany by a five-goal margin.

Sweden have a lot to do if they want to reach the knockout stages. Three games have only produced a couple of points for them and that's left them two points behind the final qualifying place. After this match they take on Japan who bottom of the group after three losses.

A win for Sweden will keep alive their hopes of a second successive Olympic quarter-final. Their 2024 campaign began with a three-goal margin defeat by Germany. Before that defeat they had won three games in a row.

Next up for them was a match against Spain and they bounced back with a 29-26 win. They failed to build on that though on Wednesday when losing to Slovenia by a five-goal margin. It's five years since they played Croatia and did beat Croatia in that game. We tip Croatia to win on a +2.5 goals handicap.