France have made it through to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup and Les Bleus are now the clear favourites to make it back-to-back titles, so say the latest World Cup 2022 betting odds.
Great news for the French, and there’s even more reason for fans in the capital to be cheerful as their team, Paris Saint-Germain, has been represented by a number of nations and three of them are in the semi-finals.
Lionel Messi: Argentina
He’s the man who can win the World Cup for Argentina and Lionel Messi is ready and primed for his nation’s clash with Croatia on Tuesday night. He’s one of three players in the race for the Golden Boot, with four to his name, alongside France duo Olivier Giroud on four and Kylian Mbappe on five. Messi calmed his team’s nerves at the start of their successful penalty shootout against the Netherlands in the quarter finals and he has, at times, been at his influential best. Messi has the magic in his boots and is ready to deliver.
Kylian Mbappe: France
Les Bleus aren’t yet through to the final but they are strong favourites to beat the competition’s surprise package from Morocco. And, if they do, we will witness a meeting of PSG’s megastars in the final. Well, actually folks, if France become the latest victim of the Atlas Lions there will still be a Paris face-off with Achraf Hakimi in the Morocco side.
But with all due respect to the flying wingback and his proud nation, Mbappe vs Messi is the one the world is waiting for and Mbappe has been in fantastic form himself. England did a great job in keeping the hitman relatively quiet, but he was in devastating form against Poland, scoring a spectacular double to book a place in the quarter-final.
Achraf Hakimi: Morocco
The Atlas Lions are now dreaming of going all the way. They are still big outsiders at SBOTOP odds of 6.00 to beat France, but Les Bleus only need to look at the trail of destruction Morocco have left in Europe, dumping Belgium, Spain and Portugal out of the tournament. While Morocco’s defence has been exceptional, they have also been dangerous in attack and the 24-year-old Hakimi provides creative support to Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech and Angers striker Sofiane Boufal.
The Lions are not done yet and France might just get a nasty bite.
Already back in Paris
There are a few players who have already returned to the Parc des Prices, rather earlier than they had hoped, and that includes the Brazil duo of Neymar and Marquinhos. PSG’s enigmatic striker didn’t get the chance to write as many World Cup 2022 news headlines as he would have hoped, with an injury in the group stage and a quarter final penalty shootout exit against Croatia. Neymar did score a candidate for the goal of the tournament against the Croats, but Brazil’s celebrations were cut cruelly short.
Defensive legend Marquinhos had a game to forget as he deflected in the Croatian’s late, late leveller and then struck the decisive penalty against the post as the Selecao’s World Cup dreams faded.
PSG goalie Keylor Navas was a hero at the 2014 World Cup as Costa Rica reached the quarter-finals and he’s still a class act. In the 2022 competition, he kept a clean sheet in Costa Rica’s 1-0 win over Japan but there was little he could do in a 4-2 defeat to Germany and a 7-0 thumping at the hands of Spain. That result had everybody (me included) drooling and tipping la Roja to go all the way, but they couldn’t get past the Atlas Lions in the Round of 16 and that meant an early return to France for Pablo Sarabia and Carlos Soler.
25-year-old former Valencia star Soler scored in Spain’s destruction of Costa Rica, but both he and Sarabia missed a spot-kick in the shoot-out, which ended with club mate Hakimi scoring the decisive penalty.
After Morocco had seen off both Belgium and Spain they set about Portugal in the quarter finals and it wasn’t a major surprise when the Atlas Lions triumphed again. The world watched as a disconsolate Cristiano Ronaldo disappeared down the tunnel but it also meant the end of the World Cup for two more PSG players, Vitinha and Danilo Periera. The Portuguese pair can join the others now in watching Messi, Mbappe and Hakimi in the semi-finals, and at least one of them is guaranteed a final appearance.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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