Semi-Finals Predictions > Jul 10th & 11th

[StevieDay1983]

The 2018 World Cup Semi-Finals have officially been decided. It's probably fair to say that not many people predicted these match-ups but it sums up this tournament. Expect the unexpected. Two games that have huge potential to deliver entertainment and drama. France are now undoubtedly the favourites but they face an ever-improving Belgium side. Croatia have gone about reaching this stage the hard way after navigating penalties twice. England have perhaps not had the toughest of routes but have appeared to only get better as the tournament has gone on.

Let's be honest, this is going to be a tough round to predict. So let's get as many of your tips in as possible. I think we are all going to need as many opinions as possible. 

[Gedkip]

FRANCE TO WIN 2018 WORLD CUP

I predict France vs Croatia Finals

France are in this world cup to prove their best having reached Euro finals, which they lost narrowly to Portugal.

They have worked hard to reach this point, and they will definitely redeem themselves this time round .

FRANCE TO WIN 2018 WORLD CUP

[waynecoyne]

I don't think England should fear Croatia. They have the world class modric, strinic and vyda in defence, rakitic, maybe rebic but not much else. Mandzukic is too old and perisic overrated imo.

[Soi Bongkot]

France 2 Belgium1

England 3 Croatia 0

 

Its Coming Home

 

 

[mcsilks]

Maybe not a bigger surprise as everyone is claiming as the semi-finals are made up of 4 sides that were in the top 9 in the anti-post betting.

Croatia started the tournament very impressively, but performance wise, are getting worse as each round passes and the pressure goes up.

On the contrary, England are getting better and looked impressive after the first 20 minutes; which were probably the dullest 20 minutes of any match in the World Cup so far.

So, I would surmise that England deservedly start as pretty warm favourites to reach the final. There is little value to be had in this market.

I really like the match-up in the other semi. This match is as good as the final as whoever wins this one, should have little bother seeing off England or Croatia. I believe this match may be won on the touchline. Belgium have one of the most tactically astute managers in Martinez and despite starting as second favourites, I think this will make the difference.

So my bet will be a straight forecast @ 11/2 for Belgium to beat England in the final. I'll wait for a better price with PP. The price given is with WH.

 

[Landafar]

Looking at centre backs to score in the Croatia V England could be value.

Croatia must be tired, both mentally and physically after the excellent endeavours so far, draw HT England FT.

Having seen the way Belgium played against Brazil, I just don't think France can count on a goalkeeping error by Courtios. Who had a magnificent game against Brazil and must be good value for the golden glove @11/4. 

Belgium to win both teams to score. Taking in to account this game is in effect a local derby I expect a fast and furious match with some niggling fouls...

 

Overall I fancied Belgium to start with and still feel confident that they will do it.

For some reason I took 16's on England as a precaution to cover my bar bill, should the impossible become....dare to dream!!

 

[StevieDay1983]

16 hours ago, mcsilks said:

Maybe not a bigger surprise as everyone is claiming as the semi-finals are made up of 4 sides that were in the top 9 in the anti-post betting.

A fair point. However, only one of the top five ranked teams in the ante-post betting have made the Semi-Finals so that's the real surprise.

I think the comments above about Croatia being fatigued after two penalty shoot-outs is the key factor here. England had a fairly pedestrian game against Sweden compared to Croatia's highly intense win over Russia. At this stage in the competition, every bit of energy-saving counts.

This is why I think France versus Belgium will be closer to call. Both teams were tested in their Quarter-Final games but both sides were the team in control for the majority. France had 61% of the possession against Uruguay. Belgium only had 42% possession against Brazil. Everyone knows it's harder work without the ball. Will the effort put into containing Brazil's attack and hitting them on the counter come back to bite the Belgian energy levels in this Semi-Final? It's a fine margin but I think that could see France edge it.

I'm going for France and England to both win. It's going to be close in both games though. It could come down to a moment of genius or a split second of madness.

[end0rfin]

Everyone (media in particular) seems too much focused on how tired and physically incapable the Croats will be on Wednesday. This could prove painfully misleading and is just additional burden on an inexperienced English side, which is yet to see off above average midfield-talented team (Colombia without James does not really count). And this is without even mentioning the fact that England are yet to meet a more attacking and creative team against them. IMO we are already at semis and still not sure of the English quality in defense and especially in the defensive midfield.

IMO it seems widely immature to write off the Croats so easily. Croatia to win @3.50 (with prospects of going up in the build up to the game).

Edited July 9, 2018 by end0rfin

[Sir Puntalot]

It's all about Modric and Rakatic in the England match. If these 2 are song, we could be in a world of trouble, if they're not it could be a hell of a lot easier, but Croatia are a very good team and are nearly always my dark horse pick at each major finals.

It will come down to heart, bottle and mentality for any team to win the World Cup from here on in, as they're all relatively the same level in my opinion. Belgium have the better players, but I'm still very suspect of them as a team. Coming back from 2-0 against Japan is one thing, doing it against Croatia, England or France is very much another.

[Soi Bongkot]

My World Cup System only 99 pounds payable via paypal

 

Be prepared for your mind to be blown:

England won the world cup in 1966, 52 years ago.

We are in the year 2018.

2018 - 52 = 1966

IT'S COMING HOME!

[waynecoyne]

38 minutes ago, Soi Bongkot said:

My World Cup System only 99 pounds payable via paypal

 

Be prepared for your mind to be blown:

England won the world cup in 1966, 52 years ago.

We are in the year 2018.

2018 - 52 = 1966

IT'S COMING HOME!

please tell me how to buy this-would you like my bank details?

[Middle East Leagues Expert]

no bets for me in this two games , Only pray and hope England to win this semi final 

[allthethings]

Eng-Cro is a strange semi, in that neither side seem to be able to consistently function as well as we think they will.

England's speed is difficult for anyone to match up with, and yet in virtually every match their pace hasn't settled matters...their scores are coming on individual matchups in the area, leading to a PK, or in the air. Croatia's midfield is their most attractive feature, and they're supposed to be able to dominate in the middle of the pitch, and yet they've disappeared in two KOs after knotting the score 1-1.

My read on this match sounds like a bad mashup of my read on previous matches...England's pace will be hard for Croatia to contend with, and Croatia's midfield will dictate the flow of the match. Whatever. What I would say is that Croatia have scraped by in their two KOs, whereas England have been in control of theirs. It took a late strike for Colombia to get it to extra time in the first KO, and Sweden were never in the second. Meanwhile, you look at Croatia's ridiculous number of shots in comparison with the final scores, and you think, how wasteful! If only they had a real finisher on their squad. But it also means they're putting enormous pressure on their opponents, and should one of those 22 shots get by the keeper...;

I would say Croatia's defense has allowed many more dangerous situations than has England's, but how many people began this WC confident about England's defense?

It is definitely too close of a match to call. Will England score first, and then attempt to score again, rather than let Croatia stay in the match? If Croatia score first, can England equalize from the field?

My money will be on the draw. I don't see how you can call this one with any confidence in 90. Or 120.

[allthethings]

I’m inclined to go against my instincts and go for goals in the Belgium-France match. Judging by the odds the expectation appears to be that France can contain the Belgian strike force, and WC history is littered with scoreless semis when goals were ‘obvious.’ But I have a hard time imagining a cagey start to this one, and can imagine both sides would be delighted to open the scoring and ratchet the pressure (and force the other wide to come forward in response. Over 2.75 is priced at 2.44 at the moment, but I’m waiting to see what the alternate odds turn out to be for team totals. Right now France is plus money on o1.5, and there’s no line above o1 for Belgium. I’ll do some mulling it over but I think a high score draw is possible in 90. Or I would think that if I hadn’t watched overs in the semis go 3-7 the past five cups.

[Magic0024]

Football Facts and Streaks regarding FIFA World Cup

Belgium are undefeated in their last 15 matches in FIFA World Cup.
France are undefeated in their last 9 matches in FIFA World Cup.
Belgium have won with a 1 goal margin in their last 3 matches in FIFA World Cup.
There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 89% of Belgium's last 9 games in FIFA World Cup.
Belgium have scored at least 2 goals in 90% of their last 10 matches in FIFA World Cup.

You can find interesting 25 Football Betting Streaks for 10.07.2018 on this link ... http://eurofootballrumours.com/football-facts-and-streaks-10-07-2018-10327

[betcatalog]

Very open match, with all the results open, so every forecast is risky, I expect the two teams to score and become an open game, to score both teams
FRANCE vs BELGIUM @@ Both team to score, odds 1.75

[johny88]

interesting stat for France, their last 6 shots on goal were all goals, 6 out of 6.

french media are saying how it shows that France is incredibly efficient, but you can look at it totally the opposite way, in their last 3 games they had only 6 shots on goal and a little bit of luck made them score all of them.

i personally wasnt impressed by France, it feels like they lack harmony and fluidity as a whole as a team as a group.

 

[waynecoyne]

I'm going all in on england. Croatia goalie was injured in the last game which could be a factor.

i have bought the england supremacy at 0.4, sold the time of the second england goal at 78 and 

backed england 2-0 3-0 at 11/1 and 29/1.

[Sir Puntalot]

6 hours ago, johny88 said:

interesting stat for France, their last 6 shots on goal were all goals, 6 out of 6.

french media are saying how it shows that France is incredibly efficient, but you can look at it totally the opposite way, in their last 3 games they had only 6 shots on goal and a little bit of luck made them score all of them.

i personally wasnt impressed by France, it feels like they lack harmony and fluidity as a whole as a team as a group.

 

 to PL @johny88  

I’m with you on France. Belgium should be slight favourites for me and I think they win this. It seems French media have been swept away in an Mbappe wave of blindness. Truth is, they haven’t been anything more than average. 

Conceded 3 against the worst Argentina side for decades and beat a Uruguay side that beat themselves. 

 

[traderman64]

personnaly , i think the france win again belgium.

 

Mbappé will play today ! It's good news for france

[johny88]

1 hour ago, Sir Puntalot said:

 

 to PL @johny88  

I’m with you on France. Belgium should be slight favourites for me and I think they win this. It seems French media have been swept away in an Mbappe wave of blindness. Truth is, they haven’t been anything more than average. 

Conceded 3 against the worst Argentina side for decades and beat a Uruguay side that beat themselves. 

thanks, i also agree with what you wrote, Mbappe was great against a weak argentina but for example against weak uruguay i dont recall him being very decisive or present, lets not forget he is only 19 and has tons of pressure from french media and all the social medias.

i am annoyed that Meunier is missing for Belgium and that from the last 3 games Belgium has had 2 days less rest between games than France (france 11 days 3 games, belgium 9 days 3 games) but i will still take belgium for their  non stop attack and also because france to me is slightly over estimated. 

[Tiffy]

22 hours ago, Soi Bongkot said:

My World Cup System only 99 pounds payable via paypal

 

Be prepared for your mind to be blown:

England won the world cup in 1966, 52 years ago.

We are in the year 2018.

2018 - 52 = 1966

IT'S COMING HOME!

I wish my maths teacher was like you @Soi Bongkot, I'd have understood it all so much better

[StevieDay1983]

France vs Belgium

The first of the 2018 World Cup Semi-Finals is being played today in a 7pm BST kick-off between European neighbours France and Belgium at the Krestovsky Stadium in St Petersburg. It's hard to remember a game at a World Cup tournament where the two Semi-Finalists were so evenly matched across the pitch.

France are now the firm favourites left in this tournament. They have always been regarded as one of the front runners along with Brazil, Spain, and Germany but as their rivals have fallen they have stayed in the tournament. Their 2-0 win over Uruguay in the Quarter-Final was played in third gear with the odd push into fourth. However, it might have been a different story if Oscar Tabarez had Edinson Cavani at his disposal and not sidelined with injury.

Belgium came alive in their last 8 match with Brazil. The 2-1 win was one of the better games of the tournament but showed the full potential of Roberto Martinez's side as he unleashed the front trio of Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard, and Kevin De Bruyne upon the Brazilian defence to devastating effect. How it's taken Martinez this long to free the shackles on De Bruyne is anyone's guess. Will he do it again here? It could be the difference between victory and defeat.

I've spoken to a lot of people about this game. Everyone has their own take on the stats, performances, and omens. Every view is different. Interestingly, Olivier Giroud still hasn't got a shot on target in this tournament. It can be argued he's been left to do the dirty hold up play work so the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe can do the clinical finishing stuff.

One key factor for Belgium here is the absence of Thomas Meunier. The right wing back has added a degree of balance to the Belgian side and it will be interesting to see how Martinez re-shuffles his defence. The Spaniard is not exactly renowned for his ability to manage a tight back-line.

I'm switching my mind every other minute over what I think the outcome here will be. I had hoped this would be the Final but, alas, Belgium had to go and top their group to ruin my prediction! I still think the winner of this game will go on to win the tournament (sorry, England fans!). My gut reaction is to back a draw with the game going to extra-time or pens but I think France could sneak it. I get the feeling the Brazil game was Belgium's big performance and they won't repeat that performance here. We're still yet to see the absolute best from this French side but I think we could here. I'm very excited to see how this game pans out.

France to Qualify @ 1.83 with BetStars

BTTS @ 1.80 with Betfair

[markus808]

2 hours ago, johny88 said:

thanks, i also agree with what you wrote, Mbappe was great against a weak argentina but for example against weak uruguay i dont recall him being very decisive or present, lets not forget he is only 19 and has tons of pressure from french media and all the social medias.

i am annoyed that Meunier is missing for Belgium and that from the last 3 games Belgium has had 2 days less rest between games than France (france 11 days 3 games, belgium 9 days 3 games) but i will still take belgium for their  non stop attack and also because france to me is slightly over estimated. 

15

Godin and Caceres have been eating Mbappes for the morning for decades now, he is not fooling guys like them with his runs  Let's just say France has had easy games thus far. Belgium, on the other hand, has taken it easy although finding herself in tough situations. So tournament wise I see Belgium coming in better prepared having been tested two times already. I would rate them as equals so there is some value in Belgium for me. 

11 hours ago, johny88 said:

interesting stat for France, their last 6 shots on goal were all goals, 6 out of 6.

french media are saying how it shows that France is incredibly efficient, but you can look at it totally the opposite way, in their last 3 games they had only 6 shots on goal and a little bit of luck made them score all of them.

i personally wasnt impressed by France, it feels like they lack harmony and fluidity as a whole as a team as a group.

 

2

I find this statistic pretty alarming, it means that the French have been very lucky to get this far and they have been overperforming, I would expect the normal stats being around 60%.
So I have gone with Belgium to qualify @2 Belgium to win @3 and CS 1-1 @6.5 with Betfair

 

[Landafar]

3 hours ago, StevieDay1983 said:

 

I'm switching my mind every other minute over what I think the outcome here will be. I had hoped this would be the Final but, alas, Belgium had to go and top their group to ruin my prediction! I still think the winner of this game will go on to win the tournament (sorry, England fans!).

Sorry to Edit this so much...Croatia would be worthy winners also, beat Argentina 3-0 ..

Lets face it we all have opinions, but now its the last 4 its anyones, all teams have their strengths weaknesses..Its down to bottle, luck etc..oh and VAR..

Having seen the line up, Ive just  taken Fellani red card at 28's

 

Good luck to all and great to see the Thai lads got out today...Im so happy that they get to go home...probably the best story through the world cup...Their Going Home..

[Magic0024]

Football Facts and Streaks regarding FIFA World Cup

England are undefeated in 94% of their last 16 matches in FIFA World Cup.
Croatia are undefeated in their last 9 matches in FIFA World Cup.
There have been under 2.5 goals scored in England's last 3 games in FIFA World Cup.
Croatia have seen over 2.5 goals in 83% of their last 6 matches against England in all competitions.

You can find interesting 32 Football Betting Streaks for 11.07.2018 on this link ... http://eurofootballrumours.com/football-facts-and-streaks-11-07-2018-10330

[betcatalog]

England has a small lead, but it will not be an easy qualifier for either team. England has a great will and will give it all. Croatia has no stability, it has been marginally qualified in two rounds of penalty shootout roulette. Qualification, will be judged in the details, will be a very closed match and so the few goals are significant
CROATIA vs ENGLAND @@ +2.50 Under, odds 1.50

[Danshot]

Hard not to be patriotic but the price drifting on Croatia seems crazy and even more crazy is I see it drifting out further as kick off gets closer. 

I just hope England can come through no bet will be nervous enough

[johny88]

what on earth did Belgium do during half time, smoke mariwana? take sleeping pills? drink vodka? they were energetic and confident in the first half and suddenly in the second half they were totally out of it playing on a much much lower level.

[Sportings]

So... 

France v England in finals?

And France lifting the cup? 

Coolbet has 2.38 odds on England 3way, I somehow have feeling that the result will be 2:1 most likely England beating Croatia.

1xBet has 2.67 odds for Over 2.5 if someone is interested