Olympics: Spain vs. Colombia – prediction, team news, lineups
Spain Women and Colombia Women will both be targeting a semi-final spot when they go toe-to-toe in Saturday's last-eight clash at the 2024 Olympics.
La Roja eased through their group with a 100% record, while Colombia advanced as one of the two best third-placed teams.
Match preview
World champions Spain have made a fine start to their bid to claim gold on their Olympic debut, picking up maximum points from their three group games to set up a quarter-final meeting with Colombia.
La Roja came from behind to beat Japan in their tournament opener, before Alexia Putellas's late free-kick proved enough to condemn Nigeria to a 1-0 defeat on matchday two.
With a quarter-final spot secured, Spain wrapped up the group stage with another victory in Wednesday's clash against Brazil, taking full use of their numerical advantage following Marta's dismissal in first-half stoppage time.
Athenea del Castillo broke the deadlock in the 68th minute, before Putellas scored her second goal of the tournament to round off a 2-0 victory in Bordeaux.
After conceding just one goal in three games, Spain will be looking to produce another strong defensive display in Saturday's last-eight clash as they attempt to set up a semi-final tie against France or Brazil.
Colombia are set to make their first knockout round appearance at the Olympics after failing to make it out of the group stage in 2012 and 2016.
However, Colombia could only finish as one of the best third-placed teams, leaving them to prepare for a difficult encounter against the 2023 World Cup winners.
Angelo Marsiglia's side began the tournament with a 3-2 defeat to France, before they got on the board with a 2-0 win over New Zealand on matchday two.
They were unable to take anything from Wednesday's clash against Canada, with Vanessa Gilles scoring the decisive goal to condemn Colombia to a narrow 1-0 loss.
Having won just one of their last five matches, the South American nation will have to produce something special if they are to become the first team to beat Spain in a competitive knockout game since England beat La Roja in extra-time in the Euro 2022 quarter-finals.
Spain Olympic Games form: WWW
Spain form (all competitions): WDWWWW
Colombia Olympic Games form: LWL
Colombia form (all competitions) WLDLWL
Spain vs. Colombia odds
While we are in the quarter-finals, which means that these are the best eight teams in the world, Spain Women are the expected winners in this match by a huge margin and a 71.40% win probability, while Colombia Women have a mere 11.80% win probability.
Spain Women Odds: 2/5 – 71.40% probability
Draw Odds: 4/1 – 20.00% probability
Colombia Women Odds: 15/2 – 11.80% probability
So, if you're as high on Spain as bookies are, you might want to back them to win after also leading at half-time at 21/20 odds, which is the same as a 48.80%.
Meanwhile, when it comes to goals markets, we can see that the bookies expect plenty of goals since the odds on over 2.5 total goals are 4/6 (60.00% probability), while under 2.5 total goals is priced at 5/4, which implies a 44.40% probability.
Team News
Spain boss Montse Tome hopes to have Oihane Hernandez and Irene Paredes available for selection after the pair sat out the final group game due to injury.
If fit, Paredes is likely to be one of several players recalled to the starting lineup after Tome opted to rotate her side for Wednesday’s contest.
Aitana Bonmati, Alexia Putellas, Mariona Caldentey and Salma Paralluelo are all expected to return to the side for Saturday's quarter-final.
As for Colombia, they are likely to select a back four of Carolina Arias, Daniela Arias, Jorelyn Carabali and Manuela Vanegas.
Chelsea forward Mayra Ramirez is set to lead the line after serving a two-match suspension for the red card she received against France.
Real Madrid’s Linda Caicedo will continue to operate from the left flank, with the 19-year-old looking to register her first goal contribution of the Olympics.
Spain possible starting lineup: Coll; Batlle, Paredes, Aleixandri, Carmona; Bonmati, Abelleira, Putellas; Del Castillo, Caldentey, Paralluelo
Colombia possible starting lineup: Tapia; C Arias, D Arias, Carabali, Vanegas; Restrepo, Izquierdo; Pavi, Santos, Caicedo; Ramirez
We say: Spain 2-0 Colombia
Colombia have produced competitive displays against two strong nations in France and Canada, but they ultimately fell short on both occasions, and we think they will suffer a similar fate when they face a Spain side who are one of the contenders to win gold.
