Dallas hosts the first of the Fifa World Cup semi finals in midweek, France clash with Spain on Tuesday and we take a look at a number of betting markets available to punters.
France
France booked their semi final spot with a 2-0 win over Morocco in Boston. Both goals came in the space of 6 second half minutes with Mbappe, who had missed an earlier penalty, scoring the first and Dembele the second.
France came up against an awkward opponent in the shape of Paraguay in the Round of 16 in Philadelphia but they came through with a 1-0 victory with Kyian Mbappe scoring the only goal of the game from the penalty spot on 70 minutes. In the Round of 32 France put Sweden away 3-0 in New Jersey. Mbappe scored in each half with Barcola also on target and Olise grabbed another 2 assists.
France were foot perfect in in Group I winning all 3 of their matches to finish 3 points clear of Norway, Senegal were third with 3 points and also made it through and Iraq were the also rans, failing to earn a point.
France opted to stick with pretty much a first choice line up whilst Norway made 10 changes for their final group match and France came out on top with a 4-1 win thanks to a Ousmane Dembele hat trick in 32 first half minutes and Desire Doue added the fourth late on. Mbappe scored twice as France eased to a 3-0 win over Iraq in their second group match in Philadelphia where Dembele added the third. In their opening game France were 3-1 winners against Senegal with Mbappe (2) and Barcola the scorers.
Spain
Sain saw off a spirited challenge from Belgum in the quarter finals when another late goal from Mikel Merino sealed a 2-1 victory in Los Angeles. Spain had gone ahead through Fabian Ruiz but Belgium were level by half time as the Spanish defence was breached for the first time in the tournament
Spain edged out 1-0 win over Portugal in the Round of 16 in Dallas. Extra time looked on the cards but substitutes Ferran Torres and Mikel Merino combined for the decisive goal which Merino scored in the 90th minute and Spain were through with yet another clean sheet. Spain had eased into the Round of 16 with a comfortable 3-0 win over Austria in Los Angeles. Mikel Oyarzabal scored in each half, his third and fourth of the tournament whilst Pedro Porro was also on target and Austria never really got in a blow.
Spain finished well clear at the top of Group H, unbeaten with 2 wins and 1 draw and they finished 4 points clear of Cape Verde who drew all 3 of their games. That left Uruguay and Saudi Arabia on 2 points each and both those nations were eliminated.
Spain were in Guadalajara for their final group match against Uruguay where they earned a 1-0 victory thanks to an Alex Baena goal late in the first half.
Earlier Spain had kick started their tournament with a comfortable 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia in Atlanta. Lamine Yamal opened the scoring on 10 minutes and a brace from Mikel Oyarzabal had Spain 3-0 up after 24 minutes. It stayed that way until just after half time when a Saudi own goal made it 4-0.
Spain were overwhelming favourites for their opening match against Cape Verde, also in Atlanta but the game ended in a 0-0 draw. Spain had almost three quarters of possession and did everything but score as Cape Verde held out.
The Betting (Regulation time unless stated otherwise)
France are priced at around 13/10 to win the game with the draw available at 21/10 and Spain can be backed at around 9/4
A game of 3 goals or more is priced at 17/20 and its 13/20 for both teams to score
Price boosts from Sportingbet include:
France to win and both teams to score at 36/10
Michael Olise to assist at 32/10
Kylian Mbappe is 4/1 to score thee first goal
Spain to win to nil 11/2
The Verdict:
To me thes are the two best sides in the tournament and if offered a free bet on the match result I would just about row in with France but I’m looking for goalscorers for my financial interest. Mbappe will no doubt be all the rage given he already has 8 goals in the tournament so far, joint top with Argentina’s Messi but I’ll look for more rewarding odds. Dembele gets my vote for France and Yamal for Spain, both any time.
Bets: Any time goalscorer Ousmane Dembele at 23/10 with Sportingbet
Any time goalscorer Lamine Yamal at 24/10 with Sportingbet
Note, odds are subject to change