The 2022 World Cup is nearing its end, with the 32 competing teams narrowed down to two that will compete to lift the trophy. Here’s a look at the two finalists, how they got to the big game, betting odds and additional storylines ahead of the game.
How to Watch: The 2022 World Cup Finals will air at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday, Dec. 18. The game will be broadcast in the U.S. on Fox, a unit of Fox Corporation FOX, the official broadcast partner in the country.
The game will also be available as a Spanish language broadcast on Telemundo and for streaming on Peacock, both units of Comcast Corporation CMCSA.
The 2022 World Cup Finals features Argentina and France, two of the betting favorites heading into the tournament and the third and fourth ranked teams by FIFA prior to the World Cup respectively.
Betting Odds: Sports betting platforms have the odds for the World Cup finalists evenly split. On DraftKings Inc DKNG, both teams are listed with odds of +180 to win the match, with a draw paying out at +210. If the game goes to extra time, the draw bet would pay out.
DraftKings also has odds of -110 for either team to win the World Cup, counting regulation and extra time.
Over 1.5 goals to be scored in the finals has odds of -215 and over 2.5 goals has odds of +145. Both teams to score in the finals pays out at -105.
At the start of the World Cup, Argentina was my pick to win the trophy, so it's hard to back away from that now.
“Argentina is one of the heavy favorites to win the 2022 World Cup and has a balanced team led by world superstar Lionel Messi, who is one of the best to ever play and not win a World Cup Trophy, something he hopes to add to his accolades in the tournament,” I previously wrote.
Both teams have scored goals at ease in the tournament, and the prop bets of both teams to score and over 2.5 goals in the finals could be considerations for the game if it's hard to pick an outright winner.
Benzinga employees backed Argentina to win the 2022 World Cup, with the South American team getting 50% of votes cast. France was not picked by any of the polled employees.
One bettor will be rooting heavily for France or hedging with a bet on Argentina. A bettor has turned a $25 bet on a parlay with seven legs into a potential $557,770.91 payout if France wins as the last leg of the parlay.
Related Link: 2022 World Cup: Here's How Much Could Be Wagered In The US On The Tourament
Golden Boot Trophy: The other big bet and storyline to watch is the Golden Boot Trophy, awarded to the player who scores the most goals in the World Cup. Lionel Messi (Argentina) and Kylian Mbappe (France) are tied at the top of the goal standings at 5. If either can outscore the other in the finals, they would be awarded this trophy.
The tiebreaker goes to assists, with Messi having 3 and Mbappe having 2. The second tiebreaker is fewest minutes played. Messi has played 570 minutes, compared to 477 minutes for Mbappe.
Olivier Giroud of France and Julian Alvarez of Argentina also find themselves in the mix with 4 goals each.
The odds for Golden Boot on DraftKings are:
Messi: -120
Mbappe: -110
Giroud: +1400
Alvarez: +1400
Based on the tiebreakers, Giroud or Alvarez would likely need to score more than once in the finals or have a goal and multiple assists, which explains Messi and Mbappe being huge favorites.
The odds to score a goal in the finals are:
Messi: +160
Mbappe: +185
Alvarez: +260
Giroud: +280
A bet on both Messi and Mbappe to score goals in the finals would still pay out a positive profit if either scores a goal, and would offer a decent return if both find the back of the net.
Top Storylines to Watch: The most talked about storyline of the World Cup finals will be Messi vs. Mbappe, as both players are teammates at French club team Paris Saint Germain. This marks the first time that two players on the same club rank first and second in the golden boot race ahead of the finals.
Messi is considered as one of the greatest soccer players ever, but has not won the World Cup trophy in his career. This could be Messi’s last World Cup tournament and likewise his last chance to lift the trophy and complete this important part of his resume.
France could be the first World Cup repeat champion since Brazil in 1962. In recent World Cups, the defending champions have bowed out early.
A video game simulation may have been right for a fourth straight World Cup. Electronic Arts EA simulated all the 2022 World Cup matches on the “FIFA 23” video game and found Argentina to be the winner (1 to 0 vs. Brazil in the finals). If Argentina wins, this would be the video game's fourth straight tournament of correctly picking the winner.
In its first match of the World Cup, Argentina suffered one of the biggest upsets in tournament history losing 2 to 1 to Saudi Arabia. Prior to that loss, Argentina had a streak of 36 unbeaten games. The World Cup win could prove as the ultimate turnaround from the historic loss.
Argentina and France each have two World Cup wins. Whichever country wins will move into third place with 3 wins, trailing Brazil at 5 and Germany and Italy each with 4.
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