The Round of 16 of EURO 2024 is well and truly underway, with big upsets and dramatic finales having already been displayed in the past few days and today, its France’s turn to take on Belgium. The two neighbors are both massively talented teams that have met on rare occasions in international tournaments. Up for grabs in this game is a spot in the Quarterfinals, where the winner will most likely face Portugal – whom Belgium eliminated in the Round of 16 at the last edition of the European Championships. Let’s take a look at how this major clash could pan out tonight in Dusseldorf.
France
My picks to win the entire tournament, France were relatively disappointing in the group stages. They finished second behind a surging Austrian side after drawing 1-1 in their last game against an already-eliminated Poland. This meant that they finished up in a much tougher side of the bracket: to reach the final, France will have to beat Belgium, Portugal and one between Spain and Germany. France have seemsed lackluster up front, where Kylian Mbappe missed his team’s clash with the Netherlands following a broken nose in their first group-stage match. Overall they have been far from convincing, and are yet to score a goal from open play so far this tournament. However, with the array of talent at Deshamps’s disposal, I’m sure the Bleus will find a way through Belgium, who jave looked far from convincing themselves. However, you can tell he has not made his mind up yet regarding who starts upfront with Mbappe: he needs to decide and fast – changing your strike force upfront every game is a recipie for disaster. The last official meeting between thes two teams happened in the semifinals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, with France running away 1-0 victors. Will a similar feat happen again ten years later in these Euros? I certainly believe so.
Belgium
The Red Devils, similarly enough, had a rather poor group stage whoch consisted of Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine. The Belgians only managed to win their game against the Romanians, and progressed as second in the group even though every team finished ended the group on the same number of points: 4. The Belgians, like some other major teams, are in somewhat of a transition period: they still have a massivley talented front line, but the defense is shaky at best. De Bruyne, Lukaku, Doku and Trossard have featured in attack in every game, leaving the rest of the team rather exposed with their offensive ways. The question now for the Belgians is whether they can pick up the pace against these major nations they will be facing for the rest of the competition if they advance. My gut feeling is that they can’t, even though they’ve only conceded one goal so far – same as France – but in a much easier group. My prediction is France to win a narrow game: playing an Under 2.5 is suggested at 1.70, as well as France scoring first at 1.61, great value for money. Theferore, the French will advance to set up a mouthwatering quarter final clash with Portugal – a repaly of the EURO 2016 final in Paris.
France to Win – 1.98
Draw – 3.30
Belgium to Win – 4.95
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