On Tuesday, July 10th in St Petersburg, Russia, France and Belgium will clash at 2pm Eastern time in the World Cup Semi-Finals. These two countries have played each other a whopping 73 times over the course of their history, including six matches in the World Cup, all dating back to 1904. The record in those games favors Belgium, at 30-19-24. This will be only the second time in Belgium's history that they have made it to the Semi-Finals, the only other instance being back in 1986, when they finished the tournament in fourth place. France Meanwhile is back in the semi final after a 14 year absence. Their last showing was in 2006, the year they lost in the Final to Italy. Our World Cup Betting odds has France as the favorites.
France
After starting the tournament with a series of underwhelming, low-scoring affairs against much weaker sides like Australia, Peru and Denmark, many wondered if this much-hyped French team was going to make anything of themselves at this World Cup. Fast forward to now, after a convincing win against an inspired Argentina and a gutsy, slim victory against a unified Uruguay, and France all of a sudden find themselves as the favorites to win it all. Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann have shone in the knockout rounds so far, and France has overwhelmed teams with their speed. They have gotten better with every match, and will hope to continue to do so against Belgium next Tuesday.
Belgium
This World Cup was somewhat of a last chance for Belgium's golden generation of players. While some of them are still young or in their prime, others are getting on in age and Qatar 2022 might be out of the question. So it has been with a do-or-die mentality that Belgium has marched through this World Cup, knocking off team by team on their way to the semi-final. Winners of their group that included England, Tunisia and Panama, Belgium has won every game so far this World Cup, including an inspiring, come from behind Round of 16 win against Japan in which they scored the winning goal in the waning seconds of the game and a stolen win in the Quarter-Finals against Brazil, in which they were outshot 27-9. Now they will play the most important game of their lives, with a chance to send their country to a World Cup final for the first time ever.
Match Overview
Many pundits have criticized Belgium Manager Roberto Martinez for using 3-4-3 and 3-4-2-1 formations throughout the tournament, claiming that it left too many holes in a midfield which is not defensively oriented. For the game against Brazil, he switched up to a 4-3-3 and found success, although much was asked of goaltender Thibaut Courtois, who stopped 8 shots on goal. It will be interesting to see what Martinez does against the French, who have been arguably the best offense so far in this tournament. Teenage sensation Mbappé continues to make a name for himself with his offensive prowess, while Antoine Griezmann is heating up at just the right time. His goal in the 61st minute of the Quarter-Final match against Uruguay sealed the victory for Les Bleus.
