France v Spain Betting Tips: Mbappe and Oyarzabal both to score and 10/1 Bet Builder

A multigoal thriller awaits

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Tuesday 14 June, 20:00 kick-off
AT&T Stadium, Arlington

The World Cup four years ago was exception because typically finals are a plodding anticlimax to semi-finals that produce unforgettable drama and a bucketful of goals.

Some of the greatest games of football ever witnessed have occurred one step away from the biggest occasion of them all.

This Tuesday evening in Texas, we can expect that tradition to be upheld again as the two best teams in the tournament collide, both seemingly destined for greatness.

It's Mbappe vs Lamal. It's the most ferociously brilliant attacking arsenal in world football coming up against the team that deals with a counterpress better than anyone.

Extending on their stylistic contrast, it's a team that constantly circulates the ball and examines, against a side akin to a box of fireworks left in the hands of a curious teen.

It's going to be spectacular.

Which is why over 3.5 goals at 23/103.30 is a shout, one that is grounded in logic as much as emotion.

The last semi-final these sides played out was last summer, in the Nations League. That ended 5-4.

First half goals backed

Better yet, we can expect goals to fly in from the off.

These two teams have taken on the highest, and second highest, number of first-half shots in the tournament while the majority of Spain's goal-haul has been dispatched before the break.

Lamine Yamal has taken on a tournament-high 14 first-half shots. Kylian Mbappe is third on that list. The Barca wonderkid is 11/102.11 to have 2+ first half efforts.

Encouragingly, neither team requires a warming-up period to find their range and rhythm.

Moreover, World Cup semi-finals don't usually wait around to conduct pleasantries. Nine of the last 16 goals in this fixture have been converted in the opening 45 minutes.

Les Bleus to edge it

That's not to downplay Spain's defensive fortitude, La Roja conceding only once in their last 11 hours of football and facing a mere seven shots on target all tournament.

It's just that France's offensive threat is so ludicrous and multifaceted it's hard not to see them breaking down a structure that, in truth, has only been tested by Portugal and Belgium to date, and even then by a half-measure.

Mbappe is the obvious candidate in this regard; four of his eight strikes conjured up from individual magic. No defence could have stopped them, no matter how well organised.

Michael Olise meanwhile has assisted six times in six games, registering an impressive 2.2 key passes per 90 into the bargain. The Bayern ace is 11/43.75 to assist again here.

Add Dembele, Doue, and Barcola off the bench into the mix and Les Bleus have the edge on Tuesday though, given Spain's prestige, any victory beyond a single goal margin would seriously surprise.

Mbappe and Oyarzabal both on the score-sheet

Chasing a consecutive Golden Boot, Kylian Mbappe is 6/52.20 to score anytime against Saliba and company. When such a supernaturally gifted talent is in this form it feels plain daft not to jump on board and pertinently the Real Madrid megastar boasts five goal involvements from his four previous meetings with La Roja.

Pairing him up with Mikel Oyarzabal in the goal-scoring market makes sense, over Yamal who naturally will receive the lion's share of attention, pre-match and from France's back-line.

Yamal could of course ignite in the semi but has largely flattered to deceive in the Americas, by his usual exceptional standards that is.

Oyarzabal, however, has been integral to Spain's attacking forays, dropping deep as a false-nine of sorts and blessed with exquisite timing.

The 29-year-old has taken on the fifth highest number of shots in the tournament (20), hitting the target with half of them.

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France have registered the most shots on target at the World Cup (7.8 per 90), with Spain a close second (6.7).

Factoring in their embarrassment of riches in the final third, it is Les Bleus most fancied to maintain their high tally.

When it comes to corners it's a role-reversal though again, both teams have posted very decent numbers.
La Roja have averaged 7.3 per 90 and France, 6.8.

Perhaps this shouldn't surprise, with each side facing inferior fare at times but crucially there were 10 corners won in total when they faced one another last summer.

Being the vastly better side in every game they've played has also resulted in a low foul-count for both, but that may change now they're encountering an equal.

Last summer's thriller produced 31 misdemeanours all told and with Spain expected to boss most of the possession France to commit in the region of half that number feels about right.

Now read Kevin Hatchard's update on the Golden Boot betting here