The 2018 World Cup final is Sunday in Moscow, and we are guaranteed a European champion. That’s because, in Tuesday’s first semifinal, France faces Belgium, with the French as Mybookie.ag favorites. The winner of that game will have a slight advantage in terms of rest because the other semifinal features England and Croatia on Wednesday, with the English as favorites.
An England-France final would be epic, and I can assure you that Fox TV executives here in the USA are rooting for that matchup (most Americans are rooting for England). Like England, France is one of only eight countries to win a World Cup. Also like England, France has only won once. Belgium and Croatia haven’t won the World Cup. Let’s check the latest odds at MyBookie Sportsbook while making some predictions.
England’s star is Harry Kane. He will face a familiar opponent in the World Cup semifinal. Kane will go up against Dejan Lovren, who he embarrassed at Wembley last season when Tottenham played Liverpool. The Tottenham striker ran the Liverpool defender ragged, so much so that he was substituted after half an hour.
“Harry Kane is top scorer of the World Cup. It’s hard to stop him, but (Dejan) Lovren knows him well from the Premier League and I’m not afraid of that. We showed that we were good at defending. Every honor to Kane, he scored six goals, but we managed to stop Messi and Eriksen, and I hope we will also stop Kane as well,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said.
Croatia could be a bit gassed. Though having to endure two penalty shootouts to reach the semi-finals, Andrej Kramaric believes Croatia have grown stronger from those experiences against Denmark and Russia.
England will have the advantage of being physically and mentally fresher after what looked like a relatively easy 2-0 win against a Swedish side whose defense made uncharacteristic errors and whose top two offensive players in striker Marcus Berg and midfielder Emil Forsberg barely influenced the match. The fact England is the fresher of the two sides will benefit them.
Expert 2018 World Cup Semifinals Betting Preview
🗣 @thomasvermaelen : “We can be proud of what we performed already. We want to go further now and not give up. We have to believe in our chances and hopefully win it”#REDTOGETHER #WorldCup #FRABEL
— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) 8 de julio de 2018
2018 FIFA WORLD CUP PROPS
France vs Belgium
- When: Tuesday, 2 PM ET
- Where: Saint Petersburg Stadium, St. Petersburg, Russia
- TV/Stream: Fox/Fox Sports Go
- 2018 World Cup Semifinals Betting Odds: France +152 / Belgium +179 / Draw +215 (Total 2.5)
Projected Line-Ups
France- 1-H. Lloris
- 4-R. Varane
- 5-S. Umtiti
- 21-L. Hernández
- 2-B. Pavard
- 6-P. Pogba
- 13-N. Kanté
- 12-C. Tolisso
- 7-A. Griezmann
- 9-O. Giroud
- 10-K. Mbappé
- 1-T. Courtois
- 5-J. Vertonghen
- 2-T. Alderweireld
- 15-T. Meunier
- 20-D. Boyata
- 6-A. Witsel
- 7-K. De Bruyne
- 11-Y. Carrasco
- 10-E. Hazard
- 14-D. Mertens
- 9-R. Lukaku
2018 FIFA WORLD CUP ODDS TO WIN
England vs Croatia
- When: Wednesday, 2 PM ET
- Where: Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
- TV/Stream: Fox/Fox Sports Go
- 2018 World Cup Semifinals Odds: England +135 / Croatia +205 / Draw +215 (Total 2)
England’s star is Harry Kane. He will face a familiar opponent in the World Cup semifinal. Kane will go up against Dejan Lovren, who he embarrassed at Wembley last season when Tottenham played Liverpool. The Tottenham striker ran the Liverpool defender ragged, so much so that he was substituted after half an hour.
“Harry Kane is top scorer of the World Cup. It’s hard to stop him, but (Dejan) Lovren knows him well from the Premier League and I’m not afraid of that. We showed that we were good at defending. Every honor to Kane, he scored six goals, but we managed to stop Messi and Eriksen, and I hope we will also stop Kane as well,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said.
Croatia could be a bit gassed. Though having to endure two penalty shootouts to reach the semi-finals, Andrej Kramaric believes Croatia have grown stronger from those experiences against Denmark and Russia.
England will have the advantage of being physically and mentally fresher after what looked like a relatively easy 2-0 win against a Swedish side whose defense made uncharacteristic errors and whose top two offensive players in striker Marcus Berg and midfielder Emil Forsberg barely influenced the match. The fact England is the fresher of the two sides will benefit them.
Projected Line-Ups
England- 1-J. Pickford
- 18-A. Young
- 2-K. Walker
- 12-K. Trippier
- 6-H. Maguire
- 5-J. Stones
- 8-J. Henderson
- 20-D. Alli
- 7-J. Lingard
- 9-H. Kane
- 10-R. Sterling
- 23-D. Subašić
- 21-D. Vida
- 3-I. Strinić
- 6-D. Lovren
- 2-Š. Vrsaljko
- 10-L. Modrić
- 7-I. Rakitić
- 4-I. Perišić
- 11-M. Brozović
- 17-M. Mandžukić
- 18-A. Rebić
