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Chris Meaney
The second semifinal of the 2022 Qatar World Cup will take place Wednesday. The current favorite — France — will take on the last African team — Morocco — to decide who will join Argentina in the Final Sunday. Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 in the first semifinal Tuesday. France is looking to repeat their 2018 title while Morocco looks to continue their Cinderella run. The tournament in Qatar has been a fantastic display of soccer, so let’s hope we continue to see entertaining matches this week.
Prior to Tuesday’s Argentina win, France was the odds-on favorite to win it all at +115 on FanDuel Sportsbook. Next in line was Argentina at +160. Morocco had the longest odds to win at +1000.
Semifinal 2: France vs. Morocco
France advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 victory over England. They held a 2-1 lead late in the game when Harry Kane missed a penalty kick (after making one earlier in the game) and were able to hold on for the last few minutes. France is currently the holder of the cup and must be thinking of a repeat at this stage.
Morocco put on another fantastic effort with a 1-0 win over Portugal to get here. Morocco’s defense continues to be stellar, as they still have not allowed an opponent to score on them all tournament — the one goal they conceded in Qatar was an own goal. Morocco has already made history as the only African team ever to make a semifinal as they look to extend their run Wednesday.
France is clearly the more talented team on paper, but Morocco has taken down several teams that have more talent than them already this tournament. The danger for this Moroccan team continues to be how they will play if they give up an early goal. The need to score at that point could leave them vulnerable at the back. However, if they can weather an early storm from France, anything can happen.
Morocco controls the flanks really well defensively, which is the same part of the field where France try to attack. Morocco has a defender in Achraf Hakimi who can match Kylian Mbappe like Kyle Walker did for England, and they have capable wings who can challenge the French defense. France does not need to control possession in order to be successful which could mean that Morocco is able to create more chances and take some pressure off their backline.
France is -440 to advance in this game, while Morocco is +320 to advance to the Final. On the money line, France is -185, Morocco is +600, and the draw is +280. The goal total over/under is 2.25.
France vs. Morocco Bets
Morocco Team Total o0.5
(-115, DraftKings Sportsbook)
France has given up at least one goal in every game so far this tournament. Morocco has the quality going forward to challenge the French backline and has shown a good ability to take advantage of the opportunities that they are given.
Morocco +1
(-110, DraftKings Sportsbook)
I would be surprised to see Morocco give up more than one goal in this game, and I think they can score in this game and cover a one goal spread. Morocco has a better chance to score in this game than give up a second goal.
Morocco to advance
(+320, BetRivers)
Putting 0.5u on Morocco to go through. They have been awesome shutting down any opponent they face, and once you get late in the game, anything can happen.
