World Cup winner odds: France favourites to retain crown

Didier Deschamps’ side are 11/10 favourites to lift the trophy for a third time now that Brazil are no longer in the competition, but let’s look at all four nations and their World Cup winner odds.

France

The holders headed to Qatar on the back of a disappointing Nations League campaign and a host of injuries to key players, but qualified for the knockout stage with a game to spare following wins against Australia and Denmark.

However, Decshamps rested the majority of his first-choice players in their final group game against Tunisia which they lost 1-0 despite bringing on Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele in the second half.

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That defeat will have served as a warning to the French as they face another north African side in the semi-final.

Interestingly, France have conceded in all five matches at the World Cup and have given away three penalties, so they will have to tighten up at the back even if they are rarely tested on Wednesday.

Morocco are a team that are happy to sit back and concede possession, but they scored three goals in total against Belgium and Portugal, so they have the talent to breach some of the world’s best defences.

World Cup winner odds: 11/10

Argentina

The stars are aligning for Lionel Messi to add a World Cup winners’ medal to the long list of accolades throughout an illustrious career.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has won the Champions League four times, La Liga on 10 occasions and last year led Argentina to a first Copa America success in 28 years, but hopes to make amends for the Albiceleste’s 2014 World Cup final defeat by Germany.

The two-time winners made a potentially catastrophic start to the tournament with a 2-1 defeat by Saudi Arabia, but bounced back with wins against Mexico and Poland to top the group.

Although they dominated their round-of-16 tie against Australia, the underdogs went close to taking the game to extra time when Emiliano Martinez denied Garang Kuol at the death.

Messi’s sublime reverse pass set up Argentina’s opener against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals and he then scored his fourth goal of the tournament with a penalty, only for substitute Wout Weghorst to score twice, the second deep into stoppage time, to send the match into extra time.

Martinez proved the hero in the penalty shoot-out to set up a clash with Croatia, who thrashed Argentina 3-0 during the group stage of the 2018 World Cup.

World Cup winner odds: 13/8

Croatia

Croatia have reached the semi-finals for the second successive World Cup by winning just one match inside 90 minutes and their knockout record means Argentina will be hoping to get the job done in normal time.

The Croats have won eight of their last nine knockout matches in major tournaments either in extra time or on penalties, with spot-kicks needed to eliminate both Japan and World Cup favourites Brazil in Qatar.

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Three of Croatia’s five matches have ended 0-0 after 90 minutes, including the quarter-final with Brazil, so perhaps we should expect a cagey contest against Argentina and possibly extra time.

Zlatko Dalic’s men have a habit of pulling through against the odds, so it would not be a surprise if they made the final again in what is surely Luka Modric’s last apearance on the biggest stage of all.

World Cup winner odds: 7/1

Morocco

The fairytale story of the World Cup shows no sign of ending after Morocco became the first African country to reach the semi-finals on the back of a rock-solid defence.

The Atlas Lions have conceded just once in Qatar and that was an own goal in the 2-1 victory over Canada, but injuries to centre-backs Romain Saiss and Nayef Aguerd mean they are up against it in their clash with Wednesday’s defending champions France.

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However, they beat Belgium and drew with Croatia in the group stage which they followed with a penalty shoot-out victory over Spain in the last 16 and a 1-0 victory over 2016 European champions Portugal in the quarter-finals.

Goalkeeper Bono is proving almost invincible and Sofyan Ambrabt has been a revelation playing in front of a back four led by right-back Achraf Hakimi, who faces PSG team-mate Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday.

World Cup winner odds: 9/1

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All odds and markets correct as of date of publication