Friday 6th July 1500hrs Uruguay v France Football – International – World Cup We’re now getting to the business end of the World Cup having reached the quarter finals stage. Eight teams remain and the first duo of those fight it out for a place in the last four on Friday afternoon. Before getting to the preview and best betting tips as Uruguay face France, we can only hope that the next nine days of high pressured games contain a similar level of excitement and drama we’ve seen from the first three weeks. These two nations may be in the most difficult half of the draw but they will feel they also have realistic hopes of winning the competition.
Uruguay have steadily grown into this tournament having started very reservedly in their opening couple of group games. You got the sense that the 3-0 win over hosts Russia to end the first phase was a signal of their ability and they took that into the second round when defeating a resilient Portugal team, 2-1. It was a deserved win and the fact that one of their star men, Edison Cavani, scored both sets them up perfectly as we get into the nail-biting end of this World Cup. It’s now seven straight wins for Uruguay which will be great for their confidence. A win would see them repeat their semi final appearance of eight years ago but for the two-time World champions – that may not be sufficient this time around.
France were involved in arguably the game of the tournament thus far when defeating Argentina 4-3 last Saturday in an enthralling second round tie. It had everything you want from a knockout game at the World Cup with great goals, lead changes and a bit of bite to it for good measure. Like Uruguay, the French were not at their best in the group stage and you always felt they had a couple of levels to go up – and they had to. There remains a lot of concern about how good this French team actually is together but again, like Uruguay, they had their own star man come to the fore when they needed it as Kylian Mbappe hit his first World Cup goals at the tender age of 19. He burst on to the scene 18 months ago for then club side Monaco and his potential has been obvious ever since. The match against Argentina show that potential to devastating effect and he will be oozing with confidence ahead of Friday.
Uruguay v France Betting Tips
When these big knockout games come around matches between European and South American nations bring with it a lot of intrigue. It will be the second game in a row that Uruguay and France have faced a team from the opposing continent and we can only hope that this one lives up the billing as they did in the previous round. France were at their best last week when hitting Argentina on the counter and in those transition phases was where Mbappe was most dangerous. Uruguay are a much more disciplined defensive unit, though, and it’s unlikely they will be so accommodating for the French attack. On the other side, France struggled at times to contain what had previously been a misfiring Argentinian attack. That will be a welcoming prospect for Cavani and his strike partner Luis Suarez which is why I believe it’s the South Americans who will be making their way to the semi finals.
Betting Tip Uruguay to qualify 87/50 @ Marathon Bet
