France – Belgium Prediction & Picks (10.07.2018)

Belgium has managed to win top favorite Brazil from the tournament and now gets the chance to win the final of a World Cup for the first time in history. Of course, the French would like to put a stop to this.

France:

France was in advance one of the favorites for the title and it has now become clear that the men of national coach Didier Deschamps are on track to achieve a great result. Favorites such as Germany, Spain and Brazil have already said goodbye to the tournament and as a result the way for France is now open to possibly become world champion for the second time. To date, it all runs pretty smoothly with the French and still many fans and followers of Les Bleus have the idea that we have not seen the best football of this team yet.

France started the World Cup by booking two mere victories over Australia and Peru and then secured the first place in the group by playing 0-0 against Denmark. The duel in the eighth finals with Argentina was the first real test and the French beat it well. The 4-3 win provided the necessary confidence and after that it was Uruguay’s turn to bow. France produced an adult race and goals from Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann turned out to be more than enough for the win.

Deschamps has no worries for the match against Belgium. The practitioner does not have to take into account major injuries or suspensions and therefore France will come to the fore in the strongest possible position. Blaise Matuidi, who was suspended against Uruguay, will in all likelihood return to base and Corentin Tolisso will have to return to the bench.

Belgium:

Belgium, as said before, could make the final of the World Cup for the first time in history and that would be a great achievement. The Red Devils were among many followers in the list of favorites or outsiders for the title and after the game against Brazil it became clear that national team coach Roberto Martinez has a team that may reach the very highest. The Belgians needed a good result against an absolute top country to prove that they really belong to the best countries and that is exactly what the game with Brazil has shown.

The run-up to Belgium towards the semi-finals was not always smooth. Martinez’s team won the group by not losing any points, but then escaped Japan. After 68 minutes of football, there was a surprise 0-2 score on the board and as a result, Belgium was hanging on the edge of the abyss. Then the formation of Martinez showed that the mental resistance is good. Jan Vertonghen, Marouane Fellaini and Nacer Chadli scored and bowed to the game. The match against Brazil then caused a lot of confidence and that is why Belgium will now start working with a good feeling towards the duel with France.

Martinez will have to show his qualities again as he has been given a difficult puzzle. Thomas Meunier is suspended and Martinez will have to improvise because Meunier covered the entire right flank in the previous games. The coach can now fall back on a formation with four defenders including Thomas Vermaelen, but players like Dries Mertens and Yannick Carrasco could also return to the base.