When the Confederations Cup draw was first made, most looked forward to the prospect of a match somewhere along the way between Portugal and Chile. The European and South American champions were both upset winners of their respective tournaments to get to this point, and now, one will take a huge step towards winning the Confederations Cup in the semifinals on Wednesday.
This Confederations Cup duel will go down Wednesday, June 28, 2017, at 2 p.m. ET at Kazan Arena in Kazan. The match will be televised live on FOX Sports 1.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Portugal +130
Chile +220
Draw +220
Over/Under 2.5
Odds Analysis
Portugal is a slight favorite here to get into the Confederations Cup final. A Seleccao have been favorites in every match they've played here in this tourney, but this price of +130 is as high as they've been along the way in Russia.
Chile is a +220 underdog, but the more interesting of the three lines is the fact that the draw is lined at just +220 as well. That's a really low price over the course of 90 minutes, though here in the knockout rounds of these major tournaments, fixtures go into the extra 30 minutes all the time.
How They Got Here
It's hard to complain about anything that Portugal has done at this point in the Confederations Cup. A Seleccao did blow two leads against Mexico and ended up being left with a draw from that match. That said, they also dominated against Russia and New Zealand, shutting both teams out. The 1-0 result against Russia might not look like the best result in the world, but there weren't many points that the 1-0 lead acquired via Cristiano Ronaldo in the early going looked to be seriously threatened.
The match against New Zealand was a runaway from the start. It was a real sign of intent for the Portuguese, who could have easily just floundered in a match that really didn't mean a heck of a lot. Instead, there were two quick goals in succession from CR7 and Bernardo Silva, while Andre Silva and Nani finished the match off with goals in the late going.
There's more room for concern about Chile. The Chileans only mustered five points out of three matches in Group B. Their 2-0 win over Cameroon could have been far greater, and blowing a 1-0 lead against Germany won't ultimately sit well. But the biggest question mark came in the last match against Australia. The Socceroos had plenty of chances on Claudio Bravo, including the one that briefly gave them the lead in the 42nd minute of the match. That said, Chile knows it had to lose by two goals to avoid falling out of the tourney, and it played this match like it knew that the whole time.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
Chile has advanced through its last six knockout round matches, all of which came in Copa America in 2015 and 2016. That's a good sign, if nothing else, that it should be able to get the job done, even against one of the better teams in Europe.
Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez continue to be amongst the best players on the planet, and between what these two are bringing to the table and the history of what the rest of this Portuguese team in big matches has presented, there's good reason to think the Chileans can get the job done and get through.
Either way, this should be a relatively tight match, and goals should be at a premium. We suspect this will be a fixture where one moment could make the difference.
Confederations Cup Odds: Chile 1, Portugal 0
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