You have to fear for Iraq on Monday night.
After getting lumped, 4-1, by Norway in their opener, the Lions of Mesopotamia now take on France, the World Cup favorites, in Philadelphia.
France is coming off a 3-1 win over Senegal in their opening match.
Les Bleus are a -1200 favorite on the three-way moneyline, and they’re -196 to score at least three goals.
World Cup: France vs. Iraq odds, prediction
Iraq does have something going for it in this match.
Given the expanded format of this competition and the oppressive heat, squad rotation and keeping players fresh will be even more important than they usually are at a World Cup.
France also has a massive showdown with Norway on deck that will likely decide who wins Group I.
Didier Deschamps has been in charge of France since 2012 and has been devoted to a pragmatic brand of soccer during his entire tenure.
Deschamps knows that he’s got game-winning players up front, so his philosophy is to commit to defending; that way, one or two moments of magic from Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, or Desire Doue is all they’ll need.
That approach has worked for this group. France won the World Cup in 2018 and was a penalty shootout away from repeating in 2022. They are the favorites to win this tournament.
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We’ve seen that anything can happen in 90 minutes of soccer, but Iraq’s leaky defense couldn’t cope with Norway, so I don’t expect them to keep things tidy in this one.
The first half could be especially tricky for the Lions of Mesopotamia, as France will be incentivized to get ahead early and put this thing into cruise control in order to give their manager as much flexibility as possible ahead of their huge tilt against Norway.
The Play: France Over 1.5 goals in the first half (+118, DraftKings)
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Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
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