France vs England — 3:2
I think this match will come down to the teams' psychological state.
1. If England keeps blaming the referees and Messi instead of admitting that
they dropped too deep during the last 30 minutes and made poor substitutions,
then France also looked nothing like themselves against Spain. Personally, I
think that was all part of a pre-planned storyline where the World Champions
were supposed to face the European Champions. They probably didn't want to play
that match separately, but FIFA made sure it happened anyway. 🙂
2. Coaches. England's coach, Tuchel, seems to have completely lost momentum. At
the press conference he even said, "If you need someone to blame, let it be me."
There were also reports of conflicts between Tuchel and some of the players
during the tournament. From the players' perspective, it could be easier to
throw one more meaningless match than risk having a coach they don't like stay
in charge and potentially leave someone like Bellingham out of future squads. Do
you really think they're playing purely for national pride? Not necessarily.
Players often look after their own interests first, especially in a match that
many consider unimportant. Another poor performance could be enough to get rid
of an unwanted coach.
France, on the other hand, has every reason to support their coach. It's a
chance to give a proper farewell to the man who brought them worldwide success
and helped develop many of these players. Then come the hugs, the celebrations,
and perhaps handing the team over to Zidane as a symbolic gift.
3. Something clearly isn't working in England's defense. They can say Messi
bought the referees all they want, but their defensive issues existed long
before that—even against Congo, or whoever they played earlier.
As for France's flat and unrecognizable performance, if you don't believe they
intentionally lost to Spain, then the only explanation is that they were simply
overconfident before the match and expected an easy win. Instead, everything
fell apart, and it turned into a terrible game for them.
4. You're free to support whichever team you want and disagree with everything
I've said. That's perfectly fair. This is just how I see the situation.
5. Mbappé and Kane will be extremely motivated to score more goals. If I were
them, I'd settle for a 4-4 draw just to push Messi further down the scoring
charts.
Predictions
Double chance 1X & Over 1.5 Goals — 1.47
Mbappé, Kane, Bellingham, and Dembélé are my picks to score. I'll be shocked if
all four of them find the net.
Both Teams to Score — my favorite pick.
France Over 4.5 Corners
England Over 2.5 Corners
France Over 4.5 Shots on Target — 1.53
France Over 1.5 Offsides — 1.45