Men’s Olympic Volleyball Semifinals Odds & Picks

• The Olympic Men’s Volleyball competition semifinals are set to start Thursday, August 5th
• Tournament favorite Poland was eliminated by France in the quarters
• See the odds for each matchup on Thursday’s slate at the Olympics and best bets

The Olympic Men’s Volleyball competition is down to the final four teams, with Brazil, France and the ROC joining Argentina in the semi-finals. The first three squads comprised the top four pre-event favorites to win gold, with the exception of Poland, who had the shortest odds and was eliminated by France. Argentina, meanwhile, has played the role of spoiler and a potential team of destiny, as they were +5000 longshots to win it all before the matches began.

Unlike in the quarters, where two of the games featured teams with super long odds to advance, both of the matchups in the semifinals appear close, which should make for heated battles to earn the right to play for major hardware.

Read on to see the matchup odds and best bets to make for Thursday’s action in Olympic Volleyball.

Olympic Men’s Volleyball Matchup Odds

Odds as of August 4th at DraftKings

ROC Defeated Brazil in Straight Sets

The top two teams in Pool B were ROC and Brazil, and they will square off in the first semifinal at midnight Eastern time early Thursday morning. They both won four matches, but it was ROC who got the better of Brazil in the group stage, dispatching them in straight sets.

ROC (RUSSIA) now leads 2 sets to none against BRAZIL 🇧🇷!

VOLKOV is unstoppable! 🔥🔥🔥#Olympics #Tokyo2020 #Volleyball pic.twitter.com/bmLYmqUbPZ

— VolleyNation🏐🎀 (@VolleyNationPH) July 28, 2021

They defeated Brazil in a tight battle in all three sets, yet they were able to win them all 25-22, 25-20, 25-20. Outside hitter Dmitry Volkov was stellar with 19 points and four blocks while Maxim Mikhaylov had 15.

Both teams won in straight sets in the quarters, with Brazil dispatching Japan 25-20, 25-22, 25-20. Yoandy Leal had the most points with 16, Wallace de Souza chipped in with 13. while Ricardo Lucarelli had 12. ROC took care of the Canadians 25-21, 30-28, 25-22 as Volkov and Mikhaylov starred again with strong serves and attacks.

#TokyoHereWeGo QF1 RESULT: ROC 3-0 🇨🇦 (25-21, 30-28, 25-22)

⭐ TOP SCORERS: Gord Perrin 🇨🇦 & Dmitry Volkov ROC 1️⃣5️⃣PTS

🏐 LIVE SCORE ➡ https://t.co/KpYig1W1GS

📱 Download our app ➡️ https://t.co/AKa4KM0BcP

🇯🇵 #Volleyball  #東京2020  #バレーボール pic.twitter.com/iABkcuneUq

— Volleyball World (@volleyballworld) August 3, 2021

Brazil is the top team in the world, but ROC is not far behind with the third ranking. With it being such a close moneyline, and with ROC taking care of business against Brazil in the group stage, the extra juice is enticing.

Picks: ROC ML (+105), +2.5 (-120)

Argentina on Cinderella Run

Coming into the tournament, Argentina was largely an afterthought to win in the tougher Pool B, as they had +5000 odds to win gold. However, they posted a solid 3-2 record to place third behind ROC and Brazil. That included an impressive win against France in five sets.

Tokyo 2020
Men's Volleyball Olympic Games
Preliminary Round – Pool B
Match No. 15 Results

Argentina 🇦🇷 (3) : (2) 🇫🇷 France
23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 15-25, 15-13

Best Scorer: Trevor CLEVENOT 🇫🇷
24 points – 20 attacks, 3 blocks, 1 serve#Olympics pic.twitter.com/IYkfkBOaLp

— J è s s (@appliedmaths) July 28, 2021

The Argentinians are in the semis for the first time since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. They edged Italy in a tight five-set battle as a +180 underdog 21-25, 25-23, 25-22, 14-25, 15-12 with an ace in the tie-breaker by top scorer Facundo Conte helping clinch the win.

France took care of tournament favorite and world number two Poland in a back-and-forth five-set tilt 21-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21, 15-9. Jean Patry led the way with 21 points while his club had 16 blocked points.

The Olympic champion is among them: Brazil 🇧🇷, ROC, France 🇫🇷 and Argentina 🇦🇷.
Italy 🇮🇹 and Poland 🇵🇱 leave #Tokyo2020.

🔎 https://t.co/eKHPRbGIuT

📸 @volleyballworld #EuropeanVolleyball #UnitedByEmotion #StrongerTogether #Volleyball pic.twitter.com/YawUpJhZwO

— European Volleyball (@CEVolleyball) August 3, 2021

Though France is favored by a considerable margin, Argentina is continuing their storybook run to the semis, and they have shown they aren’t afraid of the moment. They aren’t separated by much in the world rankings, with the French fourth compared to sixth for their counterparts.

Picks: ARG ML (+230), ARG +8.5 (-115)