France has made a mess of its World Cup qualifying campaign. Les Bleus are assured of at least a spot in the European playoffs at this point, but never in their wildest dreams did they imagine having to play out this last match against Belarus to assure winning Group A.
This World Cup Qualifying duel will go down Tuesday, October 10, 2017, at 2:45 p.m. ET at the Stade de France. The match will be televised live on FOX Sports 2.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
France -1600
Belarus +2200
Draw +1200
Over/Under 3.5
Odds Analysis
France is going to be a heavy favorite in this match for good reason. Les Bleus have historically been fantastic at home, and their advantage here at the Stade de France, particularly in such a massive match, can't be understated. The Belarusians have yet to muster a single point on the road thus far in qualifying, and their five points will cause them to finish in either fifth or sixth in the group alongside Luxembourg.
The French are set at -1600 on the moneyline and are comfortable 2.5-ball favorites on the Asian Handicap.
How They Got Here
By all accounts, Belarus really underachieved in qualifying. The team only has one win to show for its work at home against Bulgaria, and it only managed to get one point in two matches against lowly Luxembourg. The club was blown away 4-0 and 4-1 by Sweden and the Netherlands respectively when it went out on the road, and this figures to be another romp so long as the French don't lay another massive egg.
But big eggs are what has left France in this spot in the first place. Les Bleus had a mind-numbing collapse against Sweden in Stockholm that took a 1-1 draw and turned it into a 2-1 defeat in stoppage time. Had that match stayed on level terms, this would be a fixture for the junior squad to play.
Or what about the scoreless draw at home against Luxembourg when the France were favored by three goals? Or the draw that kicked off qualifying on the road against this very same Belarus team?
In fairness to France, it also picked up solid wins at home against the Swedes and the Dutch alongside crucial 1-0 wins in Holland and Bulgaria.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
This Belarus side continues to fight as hard as it can to stay in matches. The team isn't afraid to at least take a few strides forward in spite of the fact that there isn't a single man in the attack that has more than 12 career appearances. Mikalay Signevich is the only striker with a goal to his ledger for his country.
This French side just feels like it's going to make this a lot harder on itself than it has to. If the first 20 or 30 minutes go by without a goal, this could end up being an ugly and nervy second half of play.
Didier Deschamps has a ridiculous glut of talent on this team, including Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud and Dimitri Payet, and all three might have to be called upon up front at some point just to get the ball in the back of the net.
Given our options, we're set to take the large handicap. This isn't so much a bet on Belarus as it is a bet against France. The French have looked unsettled through much of qualifying, and even if they do get their one goal, the likelihood that they ultimately win by three to beat us seems slimmer than the odds would suggest.
World Cup Qualifying Odds: France 1, Belarus 0
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