Don't bet on Croatia vs Portugal before you read this
THE MONEY (DraftKings, 5:40 PM ET)
Portugal opened -110. Now -150.
Croatia opened +320. Now +450.
84% of bets | 93% of handle on Portugal.
Line moving WITH the public. Portugal pushed from -110 to -150 on 93% of the handle. Steady, gradual movement with no sharp signal on Croatia. Public chalk game with legitimate quality on both sides.
🇵🇹 PORTUGAL
🟡 D 0-0 vs DR Congo (Jun 17) 🟢 W 5-0 vs Uzbekistan (Jun 24) 🟡 D 0-0 vs Colombia (Jun 27)
Two goalless draws either side of a 5-0 blowout. The Uzbekistan numbers inflate every stat line. Strip that out and Portugal generated just 2.28 xG combined vs DR Congo and Colombia, with 0.70 xGOT in those two games. They struggled to break down compact defensive blocks in both. Portugal pressure at a top-10 rate but Ronaldo's lack of defensive effort means they've forced just 15 high turnovers, resulting in only two shots.
No injuries. No suspensions.
Ronaldo has zero goals and zero assists in World Cup knockout football across his entire career. That number is what this game is about. Two dull displays followed by a declaration that he's back. Toronto will find out which Ronaldo shows up.
🇭🇷 CROATIA
🔴 L 2-4 vs England (Jun 17) 🟢 W 1-0 vs Panama (Jun 23) 🟢 W 2-1 vs Ghana (Jun 27)
Started terribly then won two straight to advance. Croatia defend with physicality and rank fourth at this World Cup with a 54.8% success rate in ground duels.
The England game exposed real gaps in transition but those same gaps haven't been punished since. Modric and Kovacic controlling tempo at 40 and 29. Two penalty shootout wins and a one-goal win took Croatia to the 2018 final. Two more penalty shootouts took them to the 2022 semi. They don't win pretty. They win.
No injuries. No suspensions.
MATCHUP
Joao Neves and Vitinha vs Modric and Kovacic is the central battle. Portugal's press-resistant engine room against Croatia's tempo-controlling veterans. Gvardiol stepping forward into transition is Croatia's best route to threatening Portugal's back four. Neto and Felix on the wide channels vs Croatia's fullbacks is where Portugal should dominate.
The last five meetings between these sides have all produced goals at both ends. Four of five went over 2.5 total goals. Croatia won a June 2024 friendly between these sides.
Portugal can't break down a compact block. Croatia can't be blown open either. But their defense has already conceded four in one game at this tournament and Portugal have the attackers to find those same gaps.
SCORE PREDICTION: Portugal 2-1 Croatia.
Neto and Ronaldo score for Portugal. Budimir pulls one back on the counter in the second half. Croatia make it uncomfortable but Portugal's depth off the bench closes it out. Ronaldo finally scores in a World Cup knockout game at 41 years old.
Weather alert: Temperatures at kickoff in Toronto feel like the mid-90s. This is another reason why I like the over angle here, there will be a lot of tired bodies and tired minds out there.
Over 2.5, BTTS pick your poison I like both of them probably equally in this one.
🕒 7:00 PM ET | 🏟️ BMO Field, Toronto
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@RyanHanaWWP They’re not competing so they have a ton of cap. They’re paying Kane to come in and mentor all their young forwards. Not so much for his 2026-2028 output. I like it
Don't bet on Spain vs Argentina before you read this...
THE MONEY
Open (Jul 15): Argentina +275, Spain +125
Now: Argentina +260, Spain +125
Bets: Argentina 55%, Spain 45%
Handle: Argentina 43%, Spain 57%
🟢 The real read is the divergence. Argentina hold the ticket majority at 55% while Spain hold the dollar majority at 57%. More bodies on Argentina, more money on Spain.
🟢 Spain has not moved a cent. +125 at 12:15, 12:35, 12:40, 1:00 and 1:55. A price frozen solid while absorbing the majority of the handle is a book that is content with its position.
🟢 Argentina's ticket share has bled down all afternoon (57% to 56% to 55%) while their price came in from +275 to +260. Modest move, but the shorter price is on the lighter money.
🟢 Worth noting the market structure. +260 implies 27.8%, +125 implies 44.4%. Opta's model has Spain at 45% and Argentina at 26% in regulation with 29% going past 90. T
he 90-minute market is priced almost exactly to the model. The gap between these numbers and the to-lift-trophy prices elsewhere is entirely the extra time premium.
🇪🇸 SPAIN FORM
One goal conceded in seven matches, De Ketelaere's for Belgium. Six clean sheets.
Group H: 0-0 Cape Verde, 4-0 Saudi Arabia, 1-0 Uruguay.
Knockouts: 3-0 Austria, 1-0 Portugal, 2-1 Belgium, 2-0 France.
Semifinal: Oyarzabal from the spot, Porro with the second, and a France side carrying 16 goals from six games kept scoreless. Oyarzabal leads Spain with 5.
First final since 2010, when they won it.
🇪🇸 SPAIN INJURY REPORT
Yamal was seen limping at the end of the semifinal. No serious concern and he starts. Nico Williams is fully fit but stays on the bench, a tactical call to keep Baena on the left, per De la Fuente sticking with the trio that got them here.
Pedri, Merino, Williams and Ferran Torres are all available off the bench. Yellows were wiped after the quarterfinals. No suspensions.
🇦🇷 ARGENTINA FORM
Won Group J clean, then survived every round:
3-2 Cape Verde in extra time,
3-2 Egypt from two down,
3-1 Switzerland in extra time,
2-1 England after trailing.
Per ESPN, Argentina are only the second team ever to reach a World Cup final without leading in the 90th minute of any knockout match, after Croatia in 2018.
Messi has 8 goals and 4 assists and set up both against England. Mbappé's brace in yesterday's 6-4 loss to England moved him to 10, so Messi needs three today to take the Golden Boot back.
🇦🇷 ARGENTINA INJURY REPORT
A fully fit 26. Romero and Paredes both shook off post-quarterfinal cramps to start against England. De Paul's semifinal omission was tactical and he returns. Lisandro Martínez being withdrawn in extra time was also tactical.
Facundo Medina remains short after the calf problem from the Cape Verde tie. Yellows wiped after the quarterfinals. No suspensions.
PROJECTION: 1-0 Spain
I'm taking spain to lift the trophy -150. This game will be decided in the late stages of the game or in extra time / pens. Spain's team defense is insane, if they score first this one is over.
Spain have conceded once in seven games and their knockout scorelines have been 3-0, 1-0, 2-1 and 2-0. Argentina have scored in every match but have needed a late goal or extra time in all four knockout rounds. The most likely version of this is tight, low, and decided by whoever holds the middle third.
Montiel starts over Molina against Yamal. That is the matchup the entire game may hang on.
The dollars say Spain, the tickets say Argentina, and the model says there is a 29% chance neither is right inside 90 minutes.
3:00 PM ET | MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford |
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Don't bet on France vs England before you read this
💚 THE MONEY (DraftKings)
France +105 ➡️France -130
England +250 ➡️ England +320
Bets:
France 71%,
England 29%
Handle:
France 89%,
England 11%
🟢 France went from +105 to -130. That is the line moving hard with the public, not against it. Books are shortening the price to slow down one-way action.
🟢 The tell is the England split. England hold 29% of tickets but only 11% of the dollars. Small money is scattered on the dog, big money is consolidated on France. At the open the ticket count was a clean 50/50 while handle was already 71% France, so the money got there first and the tickets followed.
🟢 No draw signal in this one. England drifted +285 to +295 to +320 while France tightened. One direction, no correction, no bounce back.
🇫🇷 FRANCE FORM
Beaten 2-0 by Spain in the semifinal, Oyarzabal from the spot and a Porro strike. France's attack, which had produced 3.04 xG against Morocco a round earlier, could not manufacture clear chances. Before that: three straight knockout clean sheets and nine points from the group.
Mbappé sits on 8 goals and 3 assists. Messi has 8 and 4, so the assist tiebreaker is the entire Golden Boot picture. Messi plays Sunday. This is Mbappé's last swing.
Deschamps takes charge for the 187th and final time after 14 years.
🇫🇷 FRANCE INJURY REPORT
Saliba is out. He came off before half-time against Spain with the back problem that has trailed him through the back half of the tournament. Lacroix, who replaced him in Arlington, is expected to start.
Theo Hernandez is projected to replace Digne at left back after Digne's difficulties with Yamal. Deschamps has confirmed Mbappé is available.
No suspensions. Rotation is expected through midfield, with Zaïre-Emery and Koné in projections and Rabiot rested. Cherki is in line for a first World Cup start.
🏴 ENGLAND FORM
Lost the semifinal 2-1 to Argentina after leading, conceding twice inside the last 15 minutes with Messi involved in both. Before that: 2-1 over Norway in extra time on 1.06 xG to 0.77, a 3-2 win at the Azteca a man down, and a comeback against DR Congo.
England reached the last four winning tight rather than winning well. Kane and Bellingham are both on 6 goals and both still mathematically in the Golden Boot race.
🏴 ENGLAND INJURY REPORT
Reece James went off in the second half against Argentina with a suspected muscular issue and is a major doubt. Jordan Henderson remains out after arm surgery. Rice has been managing illness, calf trouble and neural pain in his hamstring and lower back across the tournament, and Tuchel is not expected to risk players weeks out from the club season.
Quansah has completed his two-match suspension and is available. Mainoo could get his first minutes of the tournament.
Tuchel's own words: nobody wants to play this match.
PROJECTION: 2-1 France
One side has a manager's farewell and a Golden Boot on the line. The other has a squad the coach openly said does not want to be here, in open-air Miami heat that already troubled them against Norway. France's finishers are sharper and their motivation is more concrete.
The counterweight is rotation. Neither XI is confirmed, projections across outlets disagree on half the names, and a France side missing Saliba with Zaïre-Emery and Cherki in it is not the side the market watched dismantle Morocco.
The number moved 235 cents on a game with two unpublished lineups. Decide for yourself whether the market is pricing the teams or pricing Mbappé's motivation.
5:00 PM ET | Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens |
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@wocknruntz Yeah, I like it. France is not getting shut up back to back games.
France losing Saliba is a huge hit to them on the back end. Can absolutely see England getting at least one
Don't bet on England vs Argentina before you read this...
THE MONEY (DraftKings)
Open: England +165, Argentina +190
Now: England +175, Argentina +200
Bets: Argentina 55%, England 45%
Handle: Argentina 66%, England 34%
🟢 England opened as the favorite and is the shorter price on paper, but the number moved the wrong way for them. Sitting from +165 out to +175 while holding a near-even ticket count is the market drifting off England, not toward them.
🟢 Both sides got longer off the open at the same time (England +165 to +175, Argentina +190 to +200). Both prices lengthening together is draw money entering the market.
🟢 Handle sits 66% Argentina against a 55% ticket split. Dollars are heavier on Argentina than bodies are, and their price still went out to +200. That is sharp interest split against a market that keeps pricing the tie tighter.
ENGLAND FORM
QF vs Norway: 1.06 xG to 0.77, 8 shots on target to 4 (Sofascore). England's second-half xG in normal time was just 0.09. This is a side winning tight, not dominating.
Bellingham has 6 goals, back to back knockout braces. Kane also on 6. Rice's set-piece delivery onto Kane and Stones is a live weapon. England grind, defend the box, and lean on their two stars.
🏴 ENGLAND INJURY REPORT
Rice came off at half-time vs Norway with a sickness bug that kept him in bed three days, plus neural pain in his hamstring and lower back and a calf issue.
He trained Tuesday and is being monitored closely. Jordan Henderson is out of the tournament after arm surgery. Jarell Quansah served his suspension vs Norway and is available again, but the right-back spot is unsettled between Konsa, Spence and a not-fully-trusted Reece James.
🇦🇷 ARGENTINA FORM
Unbeaten in 12 World Cup matches since their 2022 opener.
QF vs Switzerland: needed 120 minutes again, Álvarez and Lautaro finishing it in extra time. Messi has 8 goals and is tied atop the Golden Boot race. The attack scores; the structure behind it has been repeatedly stretched.
🇦🇷 ARGENTINA INJURY REPORT
Romero was withdrawn in extra time but said it was fatigue after months out, not a fresh knee issue, and should go. Lautaro escaped a second yellow and is available. No suspensions.
I'm taking the draw +210 in this, as well as either team to win on pens.
Prediction : 1-1
Two teams that have leaned on individual moments rather than control. Argentina have gone to extra time in three of four knockouts and keep conceding first; England's own knockout xG says they are winning without dominating. Cooler air in the closed Mercedes-Benz roof takes the heat variable off the table that troubled England at the Azteca and in Miami. Bellingham and Kane against Messi and Álvarez, decided by fine margins and dead balls.
The public is leaning Argentina. Both numbers are getting longer. When the favorite drifts and the dog drifts at the same time, the market is telling you it does not expect a winner inside 90.
3:00 PM ET | Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
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Don't bet on France vs Spain before you read this... we're in for a fucking banger
THE MONEY (DraftKings)
Open: Spain +215, France +135
Now: Spain +210 France +155
Bets: France 82%, Spain 18%
Handle: France 86%, Spain 14%
🟢 France holds 82% of tickets and 86% of the dollars, and the price got worse for them. Moving from +135 out to +155 while the public loads up is reverse line movement, not books protecting liability.
🟢 The overnight move matters too. Both sides drifted off the open at the same time (Spain +215 to +220, France +135 to +140). Both prices lengthening together is draw money.
🟢 Spain then came back in from +220 to +210 inside the last hour while France kept sliding. The market overshot Spain's price, then pulled it back toward a tighter 90.
🇫🇷 FRANCE FORM
Nine points from the group (3-1 Senegal, 3-0 Iraq, 4-1 Norway). Knockouts: 3-0 Sweden, 1-0 Paraguay, 2-0 Morocco. No goals conceded in the knockout rounds.
Quarterfinal vs Morocco: 3.04 xG to 0.14. Morocco's only shot on target arrived in the 83rd minute.
Mbappé leads the tournament with 8 goals. Dembélé has 5. Olise leads all players with 5 assists. The front three have 23 of France's goals. Deschamps sits deep and kills you in transition.
🇫🇷 FRANCE INJURY REPORT
Mbappé took an ankle knock and came off in the 77th minute vs Morocco. Deschamps said Monday he is "100%." RMC reported lingering discomfort and he trained apart from most of the group early in Monday's open session. He starts.
Tchouaméni missed two matches with a muscle issue picked up in training July 3. He is passed fit and starts alongside Rabiot. Koné came off in the 71st minute vs Morocco with a minor knee problem and fatigue. Bench.
No suspensions. Yellows were wiped ahead of the semifinals, clearing Olise, Barcola and Koné.
🇪🇸 SPAIN FORM
Seven points from Group H (0-0 Cape Verde, 4-0 Saudi Arabia, 1-0 Uruguay). Knockouts: 3-0 Austria, 1-0 Portugal, 2-1 Belgium. One goal conceded in six matches.
Quarterfinal vs Belgium: 2.08 xG to 0.38. Merino has come off the bench and scored late winners in back to back rounds, 90+ vs Portugal and 88' vs Belgium.
Rodri sets the tempo, Yamal stretches the width, Olmo works between the lines. Win the middle third and France barely touch the ball.
🇪🇸 SPAIN INJURY REPORT
Nico Williams (groin, suffered vs Uruguay) is back and available after appearing off the bench vs Belgium. Yeremy Pino is also fit again. Víctor Muñoz is the only doubt. The squad is otherwise clean.
No suspensions. Rodri is clear.
PROJECTION: 1-1. I really think we see a draw here, if anything I think Spain win in regulation before france win in regulation.
Both teams to score is an angle I love, as well as spain win/draw.
I think there's also great value on game to go to penaltys in this. Would take a stab on spain to win in penaltys.
Best attack in the tournament against the only defense that has conceded once. Indoors, no heat, no weather variable. Spain's last two wins were both one goal and both decided after the 87th minute. France have three straight clean sheets but have not faced a midfield that can hold the ball for 70 minutes.
The public is on France. The number is walking away from France. Somebody in this market is pricing a game that does not end in regulation.
3:00 PM ET | AT&T Stadium, Arlington
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