World Cup betting: France know how to win major tournaments but Belgium are finally living up to their star-studded line-up
Tuesday's World Cup final is so tough to call that each side being 10/1 to win a penalty shootout looks an enticing bet
FRANCE and Belgium meet in semi-final one at the World Cup and these two countries that share a border are also hard to separate in the betting markets.
France are narrow 6/4 favourites at , but that’s a price that could be influenced by a historical bias seeing as the French know what it’s like to win major tournaments.
Belgium have often flattered to deceive but are living up to their star billing in Russia.
They are 21/10 outsiders for the game with a draw offered at a very short 11/5.
Of course both teams, but especially France, are not held down by the baggage of the past, so it would be dangerous to expect history to play any part at all.
World Cup semi-finals are often low scoring and that’s one historical aspect to pay attention to when placing our bets.
The markets reflect the fact that an average of just 2.20 goals per game have occurred in this round since 1998.
Eighty per-cent of semi-finals in the last 20 years have been level at half-time, 70% of them without a goal being scored in the first 45 minutes.
’s offer of 13/8 for the game to be goalless at half time is cracking value considering the stats paint a far higher chance of this happening.
Both sides possess flair in attack so the ‘first goalscorer’ market has a number of star names towards the top of it.
One of those, Olivier Giroud at 6/1, hasn’t even had a shot at the World Cup yet, but the hard work he is doing paves the way for the likes of Griezmann and Mbappe both 5/1 to find the net first.
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Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne will be popular in this market at 10/1. The Manchester City midfielder is 7/2 to score at any time in the game.
This match could go all the way and the prices for the teams to win via a penalty shootout are 10/1 each.
Look out for our exclusive #betyourway markets on each game.
Select your own combination of events in any match, tweet @betway with them, including the hashtag #betyourway and we’ll price it up.
