After four weeks elation, despair, and constant drama in Qatar, the 2022 FIFA World Cup has reached its final act. Argentina and France will do battle on Monday morning with the winner set to be named champions of world football.
Jake Smit has been in red-hot form with his betting tips all World Cup and is hoping to send us off with a winner in Monday’s final, as well as in the battle for third place on Sunday morning. Check out his best bets below and good luck to everyone following!
2022 FIFA World Cup Final Betting Tips
Argentina vs France
Monday 2am AEDT
There have been many upsets along the way, but no one can say that both Argentina and France aren’t worthy finalists in Qatar.
Argentina have seemingly improved with every match, while France have been in hot form the outset.
The bookmakers can’t split the pair and have given both nations $1.90 odds to lift the trophy on Monday morning.
Argentina’s run to the final began with a 2-1 defeat against Saudi Arabia but ended with a dominant 3-0 win against 2018 runners-up, Croatia. Those contrasting results alone tell a tale of their improvement over the past four weeks.
France began their campaign with an easy 4-1 win over Australia but lost against Tunisia on matchday 3 and rode their luck at times against England in the quarterfinals to get to their second straight World Cup Final.
These teams are no strangers to meeting in the knockout phase of a World Cup. They played out a 4-3 thriller in Russia four years ago, with the French obviously coming out on top en route to their World Cup triumph.
If that match was anything to go by, then we’re in for a real treat in the early hours on Monday. However, a lot has changed in the four years since that meeting and reading into form from matches that long ago is often worthless.
History will be made in the final regardless of the victor. A win for Argentina would see Lionel Messi finish his international career on the highest of notes and would immortalise him among the all-time greats. For France, they have the chance to become the first team to win back-to-back World Cup’s since Brazil all those years ago (‘58 & ’62).
With all of that said, it may seem as though picking a winner in this contest is like splitting hairs. However, I have reason to lean towards Messi and Argentina.
France have only come up against one top tier nation in this tournament, and that was against England in the quarterfinals like I mentioned above. It’s inarguable that the French were on the back foot for most of that match and if not for a rare mistake from Harry Kane from the penalty spot, we could very much be talking about a different matchup in the final.
England laid out the blueprint to get on top of France. Their midfield is largely inexperienced at this level and there will be opportunities for Argentina to turn the ball over and hit on the counterattack, which a certain #10 has proven to be fairly decent at.
In summary, I give Argentina a slight edge in this matchup and am happy to be on them to lift the trophy at even odds.
Argentina – To Lift the Trophy
$1.90
Croatia vs Morocco (3rd Place Playoff)
Sunday 2am AEDT
Playing off for third place is a bit of a strange tradition, but it’s a tradition, nonetheless.
Croatia were the first to learn their fate on the back of a comprehensive 3-0 loss to Argentina.
Morocco followed suit 24 hours later, going down to France 2-0 in mostly one-sided affair.
Strangely, both of these sides made it to the end via the same starting point – qualifying out of Group C.
These teams played out a 0-0 draw when they met on the opening matchday, and they could each only muster two shots on target for the full 90 minutes.
The result of that game is no surprise when you consider they’ve combined for seven clean sheets in 12 matches.
All signs point towards a defensive match on Sunday morning, which makes the Under 2.5 Goals market stand out as the value play.
