2018 World Cup Betting Prediction: France vs. Argentina Odds

Jeremy Perry
June 28, 2018

A late goal from Marcos Rojo saved the South American side’s hopes and propelled them through as the second seed in Group D. France cruised through the group stage with two wins and a draw to clinch the top seed in Group C. Both teams are capable of making a deep run at this tournament but only one side has shown it so far. Here’s a look at the matchup heading in to the Round of 16 meeting between France and Argentina.

World Cup 2018: France vs. Argentina Betting Analysis

Saturday’s clash between France and Argentina will be the 12^th meeting all-time between these nations. Argentina has won six of those matches with France recording only two victories over that span.

World Cup Betting Odds: France +127

Argentina has come out on top in each of the last two meetings dating back to 2007. Perhaps that will provide the needed confidence for a South American side that has appeared to be lacking in it so far in this tournament.

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France

France cruised through the group stage with back-to-back wins over Australia and Peru before settling for a draw in a mostly irrelevant final game versus Denmark. Finishing atop the group satisfied most of the country’s supporters but there is some concern about the lack of flash this team’s explosive attacking players have shown so far at this event. This will undoubtedly be the toughest test so far for France against an Argentina side that overcame adversity and persevered just to reach the Round of 16. It will be a much different outlook heading into this contest than it was for France in its final group stage game.

Meanwhile, the lack of offensive firepower hasn’t been a major issue since the French have done an excellent job of keeping the ball out of their net. Hugo Lloris returns to the goal while Samuel Umtiti and Paul Pogba return to the field for this one. There are some question marks in the midfield where manager Didier Deschamps will have some key decisions to make in terms of playing time. The fact that he has a number of capable options at his disposal is a luxury that France will relish against a tough opponent in Argentina on Saturday.

Argentina

Argentina was all-in in its group stage finale versus Nigeria and it worked out for them with Rojo scoring the late goal to put them through. It was nearly disaster as the Nigerians held them at 1-1 for a long time. Lionel Messi set the tone for that game with his first marker of the tournament and then took over as the de facto manager on the field. It was Messi that told Rojo and the Argentina defenders to go for it in the late stages of the game, which is why Rojo was completely out of position attacking the Nigeria penalty area when he delivered the late goal.

The big question now is whether or not Argentina can generate enough firepower to break through offensively against a tough France defense without leaving themselves vulnerable at their own end of the field. Sergio Aguero will likely feature in the starting XI after Gonzalo Higuain looked ineffective once again versus Nigeria. Messi showed flashes against Nigeria but somebody will need to step up when France attempts to bottle him up.

The main issue is that Argentina was a disaster in their 1-1 draw with Iceland and 3-0 loss to Croatia, and nearly a disaster against Nigeria. They just haven’t looked the part, so it’s hard to expect them to advance here.