The following is a match centre with betting tips for the 2018 FIFA World Cup round of 16 fixture between France and Argentina. The game kicks off on the 1st of July at 12:00 AM AEST. It will be broadcast live on SBS.
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France
- FIFA World Rank: 7
- Elo Rating: 4
- Qualifying: Won Group A with a 7-2-1 record in the UEFA Confederation qualification.
Squad:
- Coach: Didier Deschamps
- Goalkeepers: Alphone Areola (Paris St Germain), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Olympique de Marseille)
- Defenders: Lucas Hernandez (Atletico Madrid), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris St Germain), Benjamin Pavard (VfB Stuttgart), Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City), Djibril Sidibe (Monaco), Adil Rami (Olympique de Marseille), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)
- Midfielders: Blaise Matuidi (Juventus), N'Golo Kante (Chelsea), Steven N'Zonzi (Sevilla), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Corentin Tolisso (Bayern Munich)
- Forwards: Olivier Giroud (Chelsea), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Kylian Mbappe (Paris St Germain), Thomas Lemar (Monaco), Nabil Fekir (Olympique Lyonnais), Florian Thauvin (Olympique de Marseille), Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)
Recent results:
- Denmark 0 – 0 France
26/06/2018
FIFA World Cup, played in Russia - France 1 – 0 Peru
21/06/2018
FIFA World Cup, played in Russia - France 2 – 1 Australia
16/06/2018
FIFA World Cup, played in Russia - France 1 – 1 USA
09/06/2018
Friendly, played in France - France 3 – 1 Italy
01/06/2018
Friendly, played in France - France 2 – 0 Ireland
28/05/2018
Friendly, played in France - Russia 1 – 3 France
27/03/2018
Friendly, played in Russia - France 2 – 3 Colombia
23/03/2018
Friendly, played in France - Germany 2 – 2 France
14/11/2017
Friendly, played in Germany - France 2 – 0 Wales
10/11/2017
Friendly, played in France - France 2 – 1 Belarus
10/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in France - Bulgaria 0 – 1 France
07/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Bulgaria
Statistics: (last four years):
- H2H Record: 35-9-9
- O/U record
- O/U 0.5 record: 48-5
- O/U 1.5 record: 39-14
- O/U 2.5 record: 28-25
- O/U 3.5 record: 17-36
- O/U 4.5 record: 9-44
- O/U 5.5 record: 3-50
- Wins
- Total wins: 35
- Won by 1 goal: 17
- Won by 2 goals: 11
- Won by 3 goals: 4
- Won by 4 goals: 2
- Won by 5 goals: 1
- Won by 5+ goals: 0
- Won to nil 17
- Losses
- Total losses: 9
- Lost by 1 goal: 6
- Lost by 2 goals: 3
- Lost by 3 goals: 0
- Lost by 4 goals: 0
- Lost by 5 goals: 0
- Lost by 5+ goals: 0
- Lost to nil 5
- Clean Sheets and BTTS
- Total Games: 53
- Clean Sheets: 22
- Held Scoreless: 10
- Both Teams Scored: 26
Argentina
- FIFA World Rank: 5
- Elo Rating: 5
- Qualifying: Third place in the CONMEBOL qualifiers with a 7-7-4 record.
Squad:
- Coach: Jorge Sampaoli
- Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (Manchester United), Wilfredo Caballero (Chelsea), Franco Armani (River Plate)
- Defenders: Gabriel Mercado (Sevilla), Cristian Ansaldi (Torino), Nicolas Otamendi (Manchester City), Federico Fazio (Roma), Marcos Rojo (Manchester United), Nicolas Tagliafico (Ajax), Marcos Acuna (Sporting Lisbon)
- Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (Hebei China Fortune), Eduardo Salvio (Benfica), Lucas Biglia (AC Milan), Giovani Lo Celso (Paris Saint-Germain), Ever Banega (Sevilla), Manuel Lanzini (West Ham), Maximiliano Meza (Independiente), Angel di Maria (Paris Saint-Germain), C
- Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Recent results:
- Nigeria 1 – 2 Argentina
26/06/2018
FIFA World Cup, played in Russia - Argentina 0 – 3 Croatia
21/06/2018
FIFA World Cup, played in Russia - Argentina 1 – 1 Iceland
16/06/2018
FIFA World Cup, played in Russia - Argentina 4 – 0 Haiti
29/05/2018
Friendly, played in Argentina - Spain 6 – 1 Argentina
27/03/2018
Friendly, played in Spain - Italy 0 – 2 Argentina
23/03/2018
Friendly, played in England - Argentina 2 – 4 Nigeria
14/11/2017
Friendly, played in Russia - Russia 0 – 1 Argentina
11/11/2017
Friendly, played in Russia - Ecuador 1 – 3 Argentina
10/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Ecuador - Argentina 0 – 0 Peru
05/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Argentina - Argentina 1 – 1 Venezuela
05/09/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Argentina - Uruguay 0 – 0 Argentina
31/08/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Uruguay
Statistics: (last four years):
- H2H Record: 26-14-10
- O/U record
- O/U 0.5 record: 43-7
- O/U 1.5 record: 31-19
- O/U 2.5 record: 23-27
- O/U 3.5 record: 15-35
- O/U 4.5 record: 8-42
- O/U 5.5 record: 6-44
- Wins
- Total wins: 26
- Won by 1 goal: 13
- Won by 2 goals: 4
- Won by 3 goals: 3
- Won by 4 goals: 2
- Won by 5 goals: 2
- Won by 5+ goals: 2
- Won to nil 18
- Losses
- Total losses: 10
- Lost by 1 goal: 3
- Lost by 2 goals: 4
- Lost by 3 goals: 2
- Lost by 4 goals: 0
- Lost by 5 goals: 1
- Lost by 5+ goals: 0
- Lost to nil 8
- Clean Sheets and BTTS
- Total Games: 50
- Clean Sheets: 25
- Held Scoreless: 15
- Both Teams Scored: 17
Commentary
France qualified for the Round of 16 after two games, having seen off Australia 2-1 and Peru 1-0. France then made six changes to the side and drew Denmark in a low-intensity game in which Denmark only needed the draw to progress as runners up. France’s form thus far has been underwhelming, with the side failing to find any consistent rhythm. Given they continue to get the results they need and with the quality within the squad, they remain a force to be reckoned with, however. Since losing to Portugal in the Euro 2016 final, France have only lost one of their last 13 competitive games, going 9-3-1. While offensively they have yet to gel, defensively, France have been sound, conceding only 5 shots on target during the group stage. The only goal they conceded was a penalty after a bizarre handball. In team news, Benjamin Mendy is out with injury.
Argentina’s campaign has been unconvincing. They drew Iceland 1-1 in a game in which Lionel Messi missed a penalty. This was followed by a 3-0 defeat to Croatia. Once Argentina conceded the first goal from a goalkeeping howler, they never looked in that match after that. Argentina then needed a win against Nigeria and they achieved just that, courtesy of Marcos Rojo’s 86th minute winner. It was rumoured that coach Jorge Sampaoli faced the sack had Argentina failed to progress, so his tenure has been extended for now. It was another lacklustre performance, however, on the back of an unconvincing qualifying campaign. The good news is it was Lionel Messi’s best performance of the tournament, which saw him score his first goal. The bad news is that in his 666 total minutes, Messi has never scored in the knockout stage of a World Cup. Argentina will be hoping for a fast start against France. They have won each of their last 27 World Cup matches in which they were leading at half-time, a streak that goes back to 1930. In team news, Argentina have no new injury concerns.
Betting
bet365 odds (subject to change):
Compare the latest bookmaker odds for France vs. Argentina
Both sides have underwhelmed this tournament, but France breezed through the Group stage, while Argentina only just squeaked through. Argentina have had the better of previous head-to-heads going 6-3-2, with 8 clean sheets, but the data is old. Their last meeting was a friendly back in 2009 and the two sides have only met twice in the last 32 years. France are unbeaten in their last 8 World Cup matches against South American opponents, with 4-4-0 record. Their last defeat was against Argentina in 1978. Excluding penalty shoot-outs, France have lost only one of their last 11 games in the knockout stage of the World Cup (8-2-1 record). That defeat was 1-0 to eventual winners Germany in 2014. Since the introduction of the Round of 16 in 1986, France have always made it past this stage whenever they’ve reached it (1986, 1998, 2006 and 2014). History suggests this will be a low scoring game. Argentina’s last 4 knockout games in World Cups have yielded only 3 goals. Three of Argentina’s four knock-out games at the 2014 World Cup went to extra time. If it goes to penalties, Argentina have won 4 of their 5 prior World Cup shoot-outs, while France have won 2 of 4.
France have looked the better of the two sides this tournament. I expect them to win this clash in a low scoring affair.
Betting tip: back France in the head-to-head at 2.40 (bet365, Mad Bookie). Those who fear the draw and wish to be more conservative should consider France +0.5 at 1.37 (Betfair). For those looking to be more aggressive, France -1.5 at 5.00 (Mad Bookie) is worth a look. Of their 35 wins over the last 4 years, 17 were by 2+ goals, while 7 of Argentina’s 10 defeats were by more than a goal. Given this and the fact that 8 of Argentina’s 10 defeats were to nil, if I had to opt for a correct score it would be 2-0 at 12.00 (Betfair).
Notes
- FIFA World rankings are from the 7th of June and sourced from https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/index.html
- The World Football Elo Ratings are from the 11th of June and are based on the Elo rating system, developed by Dr. Arpad Elo. This system is used by the international chess federation to rate chess players and is considered by many to be a superior rating tool to the one used by FIFA. The ratings have been sourced from https://www.eloratings.net/.
- Squad lists sourced from http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12098/11374464/every-world-cup-squad-listed-argentina-brazil-russia-and-more