2018 FIFA World Cup Betting Preview Day 13 (June 26)

Tuesday marks the second day of the third round of group play matches at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. In this round, both games in the same group take place at the same time, so that the teams in one match do not have the advantage of knowing how the other will match will turn out, so they should play competitively. There some groups where at least one (and perhaps two) teams are already eliminated, but Group F, for example, has all four teams still alive. On Tuesday, we have Group C’s finales, as Australia and Peru square off, and Denmark meets France, and we have Group D’s as well, with Nigeria facing Argentina and Iceland playing Croatia. Check out each match’s time, 2018 World Cup odds, TV and live streaming options, and World Cup betting insights.

2018 FIFA World Cup Betting Preview Day 13 (June 26)

Van Marwijk: @Socceroos primed for must-win Peru clash – https://t.co/AZMJxYYi4C #GoSocceroos pic.twitter.com/7zNDKiVY0b

— Socceroos (@Socceroos) June 25, 2018

Group C: Australia vs Peru (5:00pm local time, 10:00am Eastern time, FS1/fuboTV)

2018 World Cup Odds: Peru +118 / Draw +223 / Australia +255 / O/U 2.5

Australia has lost to France and drawn with Denmark so far in group play, while Peru has lost to both Denmark and France. Given that Peru is playing for pride and Australia has an outside chance to advance if they can win, Denmark loses, and Australia has a better goal differential than the Danes. Australia saw themselves trailing early against Denmark thanks to a goal in the seventh minute from Christian Eriksen, but they converted the penalty in the 38th minute to keep things even. Peru managed to hold France to a single goal and won possession 56-44 percent, but they just don’t have the offensive talent to make a dent here. I see the Australians winning this one — but the total staying under 2.5 goals.

Group C: Denmark vs France (5:00pm local time, 10:00am Eastern time, FOX/fuboTV)

2018 World Cup Odds: France -163 / Draw +291 / Denmark +474 / O/U 2.5

All France needs here is a point against Denmark to win Group C, and all Denmark needs is a point to qualify for the round of 16 as the second-place team from the group, no matter what happens in the Australia-Peru match. So I don’t expect to see a whole lot of urgency from either side, as this is not a strong rivalry, and both sides would like to keep their best players fresh for the round of 16. So a scoreless draw here would not surprise me one bit. So I’m putting my money down on the draw and the “under” in this match.

Group D: Nigeria vs Argentina (9:00pm local time, 2:00pm Eastern time, FOX/fuboTV)

2018 World Cup Odds: Argentina -179 / Draw +341 / Nigeria +572 / O/U 2.5

Nigeria outpossessed Iceland 56-44 in their match and shocked observers by winning just their second match in the last seven. They did not play well against Croatia, but now they control their own destiny, as they would qualify for the round of 16 with a win — and even a draw would do them well enough if Croatia either beats or draws Ireland. Given the shellacking that Argentina took from Croatia — and given that Argentina looked better in their draw against Iceland than they did in that loss to Croatia — I’m putting my money on the Nigerians here. First, the moneyline is screaming out value, and second, Argentina looks old, and Lionel Messi simply looks beaten.

Group D: Iceland vs Croatia (9:00pm local time, 2:00pm Eastern time, FS1/fuboTV)

2018 World Cup Odds: Croatia -123 / Draw +256 / Iceland +361 / O/U 2

Iceland must win and hope for an Argentine win in order to advance. So I expect to see an all-out effort from Iceland. Croatia has made it through and has a lock on first place, because even if they lose to Iceland there is a massive goal differential to be made up for Croatia to fall out of the top spot. So I see Iceland putting on the attack and Croatia playing defense — perhaps using the occasional counter to take advantage. I’m not sure Iceland has the offensive talent to break through Croatia’s shell, so I’m going with the draw here.