France have been paired with Sweden in the Fifa World Cup Round of 32. The game takes place in New Jersey on Tuesday and it’s no surprise to see the French start as firm favourites with the bookmakers.
France
France were foot perfect in in Group I winning aall 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.
After winning their first 2 matches France and Norway were both assured of their Round of 32 spots ahead of their final group match in Boston on Friday. France opted to stick with pretty much a first choice line up whilst Norway made 10 changes and it France who came out on top with a 4-1 win. Ousmane Dembele was the star of the sure with hat trick in 32 first half minutes and Desire Doue added the fourth late on. Like Dembele Kylian Mbappe also has 4 tournament goals to his name and although he didn’t add to the tally against Norway he did pick up 2 assists.
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.
France came into the tournament as joint favourites to lift the trophy and they didn’t disappoint in opening their campaign with a 3-1 win over Senegal. We had to wait until the 66th minute for Mbappe to open the scoring. Bradley Barcola made it 2-0 on 82 minutes but Senegal pulled a goal back in the fifth minute of injury time only for Mbappe to score his second and France’s third.
Sweden
Sweden were drawn in Group F and although they finished third they had more than enough to make the cut for the Round of 32. The Netherlands topped that group with 7 points ahead of Japan with 5. Sweden finished with 4 and Tunisia failed to get in a blow.
Sweden made sure they stayed in the tournament with a 1-1 draw with Japan in Dallas on Friday. It was 0-0 at half time, Japan took the lead early in the second period but Anthony Elanga squared things up and that’s the way it stayed.
Sweden came into their second match against the Netherlands in Houston on a high but it quickly went pear shaped, 2-0 down in 17 minutes and eventually losing 5-1. They were 4-0 down by the time Anthony Elanga scored their consolation just before the hour mark but went on to concede a fifth to wipe out an impressive goal difference they had rocked up from their first match.
Sweden’s opening match against Tunisia in Monterrey turned into a one sided affair as they romped to a 5-1 win. Ayari opened the scoring on 7 minutes, Isak made 2-0 after half an hour but Tunisia pulled one back and it was 2-1 to Sweden at half time. Second half goals from Viktor Gyokeres, Mattias Svanberg and Ayari’s second at the death confirmed Sweden’s dominance.
The Betting (Regulation time unless stated otherwise)
France are priced at around 3/10 to win the game with the draw available at 19/4 and Sweden can be backed at around 9/1
A game of 3 goals or more is priced at 5/10 and its 9/10 for both teams to score
Mbappe is 5/10 to score any time and Dembele is 12/10 in the same market.
France -1 goal on the handicap are 8/11
France to win both halves has been boosted to 17/10 by Sportingbet
The Verdict:
It’s hard to make a case for a surprise but I’m giving Sweden a shout of at least contributing to the scoring, albeit in a 2-1, 3-1 or 4-1 defeat.
Bets: Multi Score France to win 2-1, 3-1 or 4-1 at 3/1 with Sportingbet
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Note, odds are subject to change