Expert Picks

I will bump this up to +2.25 to avoid the push on a two-goal Paraguay loss, which is kinda what I am leaning. France has looked truly awesome, but we saw Argentina have issues in the knockout rounds on Friday -- there is no benefit now for goal differential, so I think that matters a bit; just survive and advance like the NCAA Tournament -- and have had only a couple games overall this week see a team win by at least three goals, although France has done so in all three matches thus far. I think Les Bleus are now my favorite non-USA team. Very entertaining but I expect a defensive shell from Paraguay so hopefully we get 1-0 or the like.

France has been spectacular offensively in this tournament, so backing Over 2.5 goals is a no-brainer for me. France has scored at least three goals in all four of their contests in this competition, and I don't see why Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, and Co. can't do so again against a Paraguay side that gave up four goals to the USA.

France should be far too strong for Paraguay. They’ve won all four of their World Cup games by convincing margins – 3-1 against Senegal, 3-0 against Iraq, 4-1 against Norway, and then 3-0 against Sweden in the Round of 32. That means they’ve scored at least three goals in every game so far, and they’ve only conceded 0.5 goals per game on average. Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise, and Ousmane Dembélé are in magnificent form right now, so France should win this by at least two goals.