France - Belgium (2nd half) 1-0: Kolo Muani opened the score

Starting lineups for the French and Belgian national teams - Graphic: AN BINH

At the 2018 World Cup, France and Belgium met in the semi-finals, but this was considered by experts to be an "early final" of the tournament, as both teams displayed superior class at that time.

After six years, the power of the two European giants has diminished somewhat. While Belgian football has fallen into decline, the French national team is gradually being figured out after many consecutive years of success.

As a result, in the Euro 2024 group stage, they became the least effective attacking teams. Each team only scored 2 goals. France didn't even score a single goal from open play (1 penalty scored by Mbappe, 1 own goal).

The last three encounters between France and Belgium have been spectacular displays of attacking football, with a total of 13 goals scored. However, in this upcoming match, experts are not very confident in the scoring ability of either team.

The French team will face off in a crucial match against the Belgian team - Photo: GETTY

Lukaku, Belgium's top scorer, had an expected goals metric of 2.24 – equivalent to about 5 clear-cut chances in the group stage, but he missed them all. That's not even counting the numerous times Lukaku put the ball into the net only to have it disallowed by VAR.

Missing too many opportunities has caused Belgium's strikers to lose confidence. But on the other hand, their defense remains very solid. Similarly, France's defensive stars continue to perform very consistently.

Bookmakers are offering odds of France giving a 1/2 goal handicap in this match, while the over/under is 2 1/4 goals.

According to Sportsmole data, France's win rate within 90 minutes is 41.6%, while Belgium's is only 26.4%.

According to Whoscored, it is highly likely that coach Deschamps will continue to use the powerful midfield trio of Tchouameni, Rabiot, and Kante in this match. The game promises to be tight and low-scoring.

Expert's pick: bet on France giving a 1/2 goal handicap, with the match having 2 goals or fewer.

Prediction: France wins 1-0.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/phap-bi-hiep-2-1-0-kolo-muani-mo-ti-so-20240701162509054.htm