France – Belgium

Judging by the bookies’ odds, Belgium are not much weaker than France.

On Monday 1 July, the central match within the 1/8 finals of Euro 2024 will take place. The French national team will play against Belgium. Didier Deschamps' team was one of the two main favourites for the European Championship, but a lot of things did not go according to plan. Belgium got out of the group with great difficulty and before the match got the odds over 5.00. France has a lot of problems at the tournament. Many former leaders have failed to live up to expectations. In particular, Deschamps is disappointed with Olivier Giroud's performance. The press is full of information that the veteran will no longer be on the field. The second disappointment is Antoine Griezmann. Once the leader of the national team was transferred to the reserve. Mbappe's injury is a huge problem. The footballer already had an injury and now he is playing in a mask. Undoubtedly, it constrains one of the best players in the world. France had a very difficult group stage. The team defeated Austria at the expense of a goal, then played a friendly nil-nil draw with the Netherlands and failed in the match with Poland. The total for the entire group stage was not a single goal from play: a penalty and an auto-goal. Radical changes are needed ahead of the play-offs. Belgium mysteriously stands as the clear underdog, although the quality of play has not been a letdown. In their first match at the tournament, Tedesco's charges dominated Slovakia, created two xG chances, suffered through Romelu Lukaku's colossal bad luck. It was an unfair defeat. Next, they had already beaten Romania by a margin and played a very nervy match against Ukraine. In the end Kevin De Bruyne did not hesitate to stand in the corner and stall - a very unpleasant symptom, but the potential for growth is there. The same De Bruyne is the leader in the number of cutting passes at the European Championships. The player will be very comfortable breaking up France's defence, given their passion for the high line. In addition, Tedesco can count on the best dribbler in European football, Jérémy Doku. Romelu Lukaku is not giving up either. The Belgian is able to put pressure on France's powerful centre-backs due to his size. The odds of 5.00 are clearly too high for such a talented Belgian team. Tedesco's style is also important. The German coach is a master of counter-attacking football. And here in the opponents will be France with a very weak positional game in the group stage. At least we can see an equal match without any dominance on the part of Deschamps' wards. Another mystery is the high odds on the top total. There could well be an open scenario. The series in the group stage is hardly worth projecting into the play-offs.