Argentina vs France Prediction | World Cup 2022 ‣ Betiton™

After 63 games full of excitement and drama, we are just one match away from knowing who will be crowned champions of the world, and we cannot wait for it to kick off. While losing any match in a competition is not pleasant, losing with just one more hurdle left to navigate is even worse. The final of the 2022 Qatar World Cup will be played between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail on the 18th of December at 15:00 GMT. For one final time, if you want some top World Cup 2022 predictions, then do yourself a favour and read our Argentina vs France prediction in full.

Argentina vs France Preview

At the time that this Argentina vs France prediction was written, we did not know whether this big match would be shown live on ITV 1 or BBC. However, this is not much of an issue since all you have to do is check the TV schedule on Friday or Saturday, and you will quickly see which channel will be broadcasting it. If we were to guess, we would say that it will be BBC 1.

When trying to make a prediction for any huge final, it is always a good move to check out how both teams have made it to the showpiece event. Therefore, below you can see the paths that both Argentina and France have had to tread in order to make it the 2022 World Cup final.

Argentina:

• Round of 16: Argentina 2 – Australia 1
• Quarter-Finals: Netherlands 2 – Argentina 2 (Argentina win 4-3 on penalties)
• Semi-Finals: Argentina 3 – Croatia 0

France:

• Round of 16: France 3 – Poland 1
• Quarter-Final: England 1 – France 2
• Semi-Final: France 2 – Morocco 0

🏠 Argentina Form and Team News

Taking a bit of time out of your day to look at how both countries have made it to the final is something that you should always make an effort to do when you are considering doing a bit of football betting, which is exactly what we’ll doing in our Argentina vs France prediction. At the end of the day, form is important to look at when you are betting on a sporting event. Yes, you might argue that both sides have top form because they are both in a World Cup final, but one team might have got to the showpiece match a lot more convincingly than the other.

Argentina’s World Cup started with one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history when they were beaten 2-1 by Saudi Arabia. This defeat in their opening match left them on the brink of elimination, should they lose either of their remaining two games, but they held their nerve to beat both Mexico and Poland by a 2-0 scoreline and finish at the top of their group. Finishing first in their group worked in their favour because it meant that they played Australia in the Round of 16 instead of France.

Many believed that their Round of 16 match with the Aussies would basically be a walk in the park, but Australia showed plenty of grit and determination, and with a bit of extra luck, they could easily have taken the tie to extra time. However, the Argentinians won the match 2-1, and Matt Ryan, the Australian keeper, will not look too fondly back at this game since it was a poor mistake from him that allowed Argentina in for the second goal, which was ultimately the winner.

This win against Australia booked the Argentinians a Quarter-Final game against the Dutch, and this was one of the feistiest matches that you will ever see at a World Cup. The referee, who was really poor, failed to get a grip on the match and ended up dishing out 13 bookings, while, for reasons only he knows, he failed to send off both Messi and Paredes. The former deliberately handled the ball, while the latter smashed the ball into the Dutch dugout after having just put in a late sliding tackle. Argentina were two goals to the good and looked to be cruising into the Semi-Finals, but a brace from substitute Wout Weghorst took the game into extra time, which they eventually won on penalties. Argentina might have won the match, but they did not win themselves any neutral fans with the way that they acted.

Their win against the Netherlands booked a Semi-Final match against Croatia, who always seem to punch above their weight in international football, and the Croats started the game on the front foot. However, Argentina settled their nerves when a breakaway led to a penalty that Messi slammed into the roof of the net. Just five minutes later, the tie was basically put to bed when Alvarez raced through, got a lot of luck, and was able to tuck the ball home from close range. Croatia, to their credit, did not give up, but the game was put beyond doubt in the 69th minute when Messi went on one of his amazing ones before cutting the ball back to Alvarez to roll home.

The Argentina coach, Lionel Scaloni, does not have any suspensions that he needs to deal with for the final, while the only injury issue he has at the moment is to Papu Gómez, and it is highly unlikely that he would have started or played a major role in this final anyway. Scaloni will be hoping that none of his key players pick up an injury or sickness in the next couple of days.

Argentina Starting Lineup

Scaloni has changed his formation regularly throughout this competition, opting for a 5-3-2 formation against the Netherlands and a 4-4-2 formation against Croatia. For this final against France, we think that he will go for five at the back to try and counter the attacking talent that the French have. Below is the starting XI that our Argentina vs France prediction has it that Scaloni might go for on Sunday afternoon:

• E. Martinez
• N. Molina
• C. Romero
• N. Otamendi
• L. Martinez
• N. Acuna
• R. De Paul
• E. Fernández
• A. Mac Allister
• L. Messi
• J. Álvarez

If this predicted starting XI is struggling against a talented France side, then to say that Scaloni has plenty of talent on the bench is not an overstatement. He will be able to call upon the likes of Correa, Martinez, Paredes, and Dybala to try and change things.

Argentina Players to Watch

It is fair to say that this is not Argentina’s best ever squad, but there is still a lot of quality in it that France will be fully aware of. Below we have given you three players that you should keep a very close eye on when this showpiece game is being played:

• Lionel Messi: Everyone, apart from Messi and Argentina fans, will be getting extremely tired of hearing about him, but there can be no denying the fact that he is the best player that Argentina has. For the third goal against Croatia, he rolled back the years to help set up a wonderful goal, and he be quite confident of being able to cause a weak France defence plenty of issues over the course of 90 minutes
• Emi Martinez: France’s strongest suit is their attack, so Martinez will have to be on his toes in order to keep out their talented attackers. It would not be that much of a surprise if this match went to extra time and penalties, and if it does go to a penalty shootout, then we think that Argentina will have the advantage because Martinez has proven himself time and time again when faced with penalties
• Julián Álvarez: He is only 22 years old, but he has definitely been one of the stars of Argentina’s campaign. He has four goals to his name from six matches, which puts him one behind Mbappe and Messi for the race for the Golden Boot. If he plays like he did against Croatia, then we definitely would not be surprised if he were to find the back of the net at least once

🏠 France Form and Team News

France finished at the top of their group thanks to two wins and a loss from the three group game matches that they took part in. Their first game of the 2022 World Cup was against the Aussies, and Australia scored first in the match to make it seem that there could be another early upset on the cards, but all this goal did was make the French angry, and they scored four unanswered goals to win the match 4-1.

Next, France had to take on a Denmark side who were being touted as dark horses for the World Cup, and the French won a tough match by a scoreline of 2-1 to ensure a spot in the Round of 16 with one game to spare. Their last game of the Group Stage was against Tunisia, and Didier Deschamps opted to make a variety of changes to ensure that his first team players were well rested ahead of their last 16 match. France put in a really poor performance in this game and lost 1-0, although they will argue that Antoine Griezmann’s goal should have stood, and it should have been a draw.

In the Round of 16, France were tasked with getting past a stubborn Polish team, and they did this without too much fuss by winning the match 3-1. The Polish attackers did manage to cause some issues in the French defense, but they lacked the composure to do some proper damage. Poland’s only goal of the match came in the dying seconds when they were rewarded a penalty, and Robert Lewandowski, on the second time of asking, put the ball beyond Hugo Lloris.

The Quarter-Final match saw France play against a talented England side, and with just over 15 minutes on the clock they were in the lead when the referee somehow failed to see a foul on Saka and France pounced. England did not let this set back get to them, and they clawed their way back into the game when Saka was fouled in the box, and Harry Kane converted the penalty. It looked like England were going to be the ones to score next, but Olivier Giroud, as he has done on so many occasions throughout his career, popped up and headed France back into the lead. England then got a second penalty late on, but Kane went for power and smashed it over the bar. The game finished 2-1 in France’s favour.

This win booked them a semi-final clash with giant killers Morocco and, despite being big favourites, France knew that this was going to be a really tough game. The French took an early lead through Theo Hernandez, but the Moroccans did not let this get to them and they caused France a lot of issues throughout the game. However, they could not find the back of the net, and this proved crucial when Randal Kolo Muani tapped in at the back post with a little over ten minutes to go. Morocco were finally beaten, but they will leave this competition on Saturday, no matter the result in the third/fourth play-off with their heads held high.

France’s manager, Deschamps, does not have any suspensions to contend with at the time of writing, so he will be happy with that. However, Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano missed out on the Morocco match because of a cold, so he will be hoping to have these two key players back for the final. There is talk about Karim Benzema returning to the squad for the final, but we will have to wait and see whether that is the case.

France Starting Lineup

In their matches against England and Morocco, Deschamps opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation, and we see no reason why he would decide to go for another formation in the last game of the competition. If Rabiot and Upamecano have overcome their illness, then we expect them to slot back into the starting XI. Below is the starting XI that our Argentina vs France prediction expects to see take to the field against Argentina:

• H. Loris
• T. Hernández
• D. Upamecano
• R. Varane
• J. Koundé
• A. Rabiot
• A. Tchouaméni
• O. Dembélé
• A. Griezmann
• K. Mbappe
• O. Giroud

When you look at this starting XI, it is not surprising that France have done so well in this World Cup, but as was shown in their game against Tunisia, we do not think that we are being unfair when we say that France do not have huge squad depth. However, if Benzema comes back into the fray, then that can change things dramatically. Deschamps would be delighted if he could call upon the Ballon D’or winner with 30 minutes to go if his team are in need of a goal.

France Players to Watch

Like we mentioned above, France’s starting XI is full of quality, and below we are going to look at three French players that we feel Argentina will be really wary of ahead of the final.

• Kylian Mbappe: Before the Semi-Final against Morocco, Mbappe was, once again, the main focus of everyone’s attention but, like in the England game, the Moroccans did a good job of keeping him quiet. However, he has the talent to do nothing all game and then just pop up with the killing blow, which is what he did. With 10 minutes or so left on the clock, he weaved his way in and out of Moroccan traffic, and his deflected shot ended up with an easy tap in for his teammate. Argentina will definitely be making plans to keep him quiet
• Olivier Giroud: As we said, there are talks about Benzema coming back into the team, but it would be foolish to replace Giroud in the starting XI after the way he has played at this World Cup. He has scored four goals to date, and we think that his physicality and quality in the air is something that can cause issues for Argentina’s defence. We are looking forward to seeing whether Argentina can deal with him
• Antoine Griezzman: The Atletico Madrid attacker was the best player on the pitch against England, and he showed his defensive qualities against Morocco, putting in a number of key tackles to stop Morocco from getting a shot away. He is a very important player for France, and it will be interesting to see how Argentina go about trying to ensure that he does not have too much time on the ball to show off his skills

France vs Morocco Betting Odds

At Betiton, we really enjoy giving our players top WC 2022 betting odds that you can use to bet with because we truly feel that all out players deserve the option of trying to get the most that they can from their hard-earned money. No matter the market that you would like to make some World Cup bets on, one thing we can guarantee you is that we will always offer competitive odds to our punters. The majority of our punters like to bet on markets such as the Match Winner and the Goals Scored, so below you can find odds for both of these popular markets:

Match Winner

Over/Under 2.5 Goals

Who Will Win? Argentina vs France Prediction

If we were to do some online sports betting on this Final between Argentina and France, then who would we bet on? Well, like the majority of finals, this is a really tricky one to call as it could go any way. However, we do not sit on the fence here at Betiton, so the World Cup betting advice that we can give you for this match is to bet on Argentina to win and give Messi a fairy-tale ending. We think Argentina will win because they have been in better form, while France have relied on a bit of luck, and have a weaker defence.

Our Argentina vs France prediction: Argentina to win

Our Argentina vs France Betting Tips

What other World Cup tips can we provide you with ahead of this game? Well, if you do not want to put your money on Argentina to win because you think it is too close to call, then we suggest you go for the over 2.5 goals betting market. It would not be a surprise to use to see at least three goals in this game due to the attacking talent that is on display for both teams.