France enters the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as the defending champion, and their manager, Didier Deschamps, is entering his third World Cup cycle. He has many of the players from that title team, including 23-year-old Kylian Mbappe, who stars for Paris-St Germain. However, France also enters under the shadow of a curse, as the last four World Cup champions from Europe have failed to advance from the group stage in the next competition. In 2018, Germany finished dead last in Group F just one World Cup after winning the whole thing in Brazil. Les Bleus open their title defense in Group D against Australia, as the Socceroos have an upset on their mind. Can the Australians pull off what would be a mammoth upset, or even grab the point that would come with a draw? Read on to get our soccer betting prediction.
World Cup Preview: France vs Australia
(Tuesday, November 22)
When: Tuesday, November 22, 2022, 2:00 pm ET
Where: Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah, Qatar
TV: FOX
Radio: No National Broadcast
Live Stream: Sling TV
Soccer Odds: France -500 / Australia +1000 / Draw +425 / O/U 2.5
Why should you bet on Australia?
All of the pressure in Group D lies on the shoulders of the French, as they are heavy favorites (-225) to win the group, or at least advance to the knockout rounds (-1400). Australia has the lowest odds (+400) just to make it to the round of 16, which means that they have nothing to lose and everything to gain from an aggressive approach.
The French team also arrives with a lot of internal strife. Mbappe faces an image-rights dispute, and there are even rumors that Paul Pogba solicited the services of a witch doctor to put a hex on the French star. If you contrast this with the attitude that the Socceroos bring, the difference is night and day. Australian stars Mitch Duke and Thomas Deng are just happy to be in Qatar. In an interview with Fox Sports, Deng gushed, “We always dream of playing against these guys, watching the Champions League and watching the European leagues. You know, always wondering how it would be to come up against them and to have the opportunity now, I’m just excited to see what will happen. As long as we focus on what we do best and we have full confidence in ourselves and we believe in our game plan, I think anything’s possible.” The Australian side has not won a World Cup game since 2010, and they have only managed one draw in the last two group play stages.
Why should you put your money on France?
Obviously, the talent gap between the two teams is immense. If you look at the salaries the two rosters earn from soccer, France has a value of 1.08 billion euros, while Australia has a value of 38.4 million euros. France’s side has 11 players with higher values for individual transfer than the entire Australian team.
So if you’re looking to wager on the basis of talent and record, you have to go with France. There isn’t a lot of value associated with taking Les Bleus in this one match, of course. The huge odds reflect the mountain that the Australians must climb just to get a draw.
Final Score and Prediction
An interesting prop here is the goal total (2 ½). In 2018, the Australians managed two goals in group play while permitting five, an average of 2.3 total goals per match. In 2014, they scored three goals while permitting nine, averaging 4 total goals per match. I expect a fairly defensive approach, and the French may have some jitters through the first half, simply because it’s the first match. I see this going 2-1, 3-1 or even 4-1, though, which means that the “over” is an interesting pick. My likeliest prediction is Les Bleus 3, Socceroos 1.
World Cup Soccer Betting Odds
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