Argentina vs. France Prediction, Betting Tips & Odds | World Cup Final

For the first time in the history of World Cups, Argentina and France will host the World Cup final. Which of the two teams will be able to celebrate its third World Cup title?

We provide you with an in-depth preview of the match, as well as the best odds and predictions, and offer you our Argentina – France World Cup Final betting picks.

The road to the final

Argentina only suffered a bitter defeat in the first game of the World Cup. They lost 2-1 against Saudi Arabia – but after that, the Argentines were flawless. They won 2-0 against Mexico and Poland, then beat Australia 2-1 in the round of the last 16, beat the Netherlands on penalties, and defeated Croatia 3-0 in the semifinals.

France also suffered just one defeat during the tournament: When they lost 1-0 to Tunisia on the last day of group play, they were already qualified, having previously won 4-1 against Australia and 2-1 against Denmark. After that France won 3-1 against Poland, 2-1 against England and finally 2-0 against the surprise team from Morocco.

The World Cup final will take place on Sunday, December 18 at 6 pm Qatar time at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail.

Latest betting odds

All international bookmakers consider the 2022 World Cup final match to be completely even.

At our ➜ bookmaker test winner Bet365 you get odds of @2.80 for a win by Argentina. In case of a draw and thus extra time you can win back three times your stake, for a win by France after 90 minutes odds of @2.80 await you.

	➜ visit Bookmaker	➜ visit Bookmaker	➜ visit Bookmaker
Argentina to win	2.80	2.78	2.70
Draw	3.00	3.10	3.05
France to win	2.80	2.80	2.80

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Best Bookmaker for World Cup Final Bets

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World Cup Final 2022 Betting Argentina vs. France

1. Argentina Match preview
2. France Match preview
3. Team comparison
4. The last duel
5. Over/under betting pick
6. Match Betting prediction
7. Correct score bet
8. Golden Boot bet
9. FAQ

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Argentina World Cup 2022 Preview

When Argentina lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia on the first matchday, hardly anyone would have bet that the Albiceleste would end up in the World Cup final.

But Argentina became stronger and more stable as the tournament progressed. Lionel Scaloni’s team still had to find its feet in some positions, but it now looks very solid.

The Croatians also had to learn this bitter lesson, as the Argentines left the 2018 World Cup finalists no chance in the semifinals. A key role was taken by superstar Lionel Messi, who excelled with a goal and an assist. Two goals were also scored by young star Julián Álvarez, just 22, who replaced Lautaro Martínez and now has four goals in the tournament.

Argentina’s midfield also looked stronger with each game. In Argentina’s 4-4-2, Enzo Fernández and Leandro Paredes play in the center, with Rodrigo de Paul and Alexis Mac Allister filling the full-back positions. One of the secrets of the Argentines’ success is that these four players always consolidate the center, ensuring great compactness.

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Lionel Scaloni will probably stick to his 4-4-2 formation against France. A thoroughly attacking lineup will be important to keep the strong Frenchmen busy. In addition, the forward duo of Messi and Álvarez is perfectly attuned and has been increasingly convincing as the tournament has progressed.

Nevertheless, it is conceivable that Scaloni will change his starting lineup compared to the successful semifinal against Croatia. Marcos Acuña and Gonzalo Montiel return to the squad after their suspensions and are serious options for the full-back positions. Especially the question of who will start at right-back is an important one – the latter will be up against France’s superstar Kylian Mbappé. Since the full-back positions are not necessarily the best-staffed positions in the Argentine squad, they could become a key in this World Cup final.

Another interesting facet is that against both the Netherlands and Croatia, Argentina had less possession than their opponents. Against the Dutch, just a little, but against Croatia, significantly. They were able to let the Croatians have the ball because of their lead and pull back. This could be an approach used against France even when the score is 0-0.

The only absentee for Argentina will be veteran left winger Papu Gómez, but he wouldn’t have had a starting spot anyway.

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Argentina previous World Cup matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	XG	Possession	Accuracy	Duels won
22/11/2022	Saudi Arabia	N	1 – 2	2.39 : 0.29	68.53%	84.49%	48.44%
26/11/2022	Mexico	N	2 – 0	0.51 : 0.09	58.17%	85.18%	49.51%
30/11/2022	Poland	N	2 – 0	3.62 : 0.13	71.95%	93.01%	49.48%
03/12/2022	Australia	N	2 – 1	2.30 : 0.71	59.35%	89.58%	48.48%
09/12/2022	Netherlands	N	2 – 2 (P)	1.89 : 0.58	49.57%	83.95%	53.67%
13/12/2022	Croatia	N	3 – 0	2.07 : 0.49	39.90%	85.82%	49.02%

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France World Cup 2022 Preview

France’s performance in the knockout phase of the 2022 World Cup was very solid: probably the most important victory came in the quarterfinals against England. Not only did they knock out one of the favorites for the title, but they also boosted their self-confidence. In comparison, the semifinal against Morocco was a rather easy affair.

The French are basically well-staffed in all positions and there are hardly any weak points. Qualitatively, the starting lineup in particular is superior to that of the Argentines.

However, there is one position where France is practically perfect and that is the “10”. Antoine Griezmann plays in the attacking midfield of the French, who has an enormous range of movement and action and is extremely important for the team.

The defensive midfield is a bit weaker with Rabiot and Tchouameni than in the last World Cup in 2018, when Kanté and Pogba (both injured this year) played in this space. That’s why it’s very important for France to have Griezmann as an extra aid on the central axis – even when it comes to condensing the center.

The French offensive line is fantastically well-staffed anyway: Kylian Mbappé is currently one of the world’s best players, Ousmane Dembélé on the right offensive side is always good for a surprise and Olivier Giroud has also been reliable in the tournament so far.

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The encounter against Morocco showed a different side of the French. After an early goal by Theo Hernández, the “Equipe tricolore” pulled back and let the Moroccans take over the game. This gave Morocco good opportunities again and again, but France was able to save energy and shift to counterattacking.

If the French also take the lead in the final against Argentina, we could see the same approach again. Unlike four years ago, when France was very dominant and always went for the second goal quickly, this time they could opt for pragmatism.

With players like Mbappé or Dembélé, France can transition perfectly and is probably more dangerous that way than if they permanently control the game and push the opponent backwards – as the Spaniards did in this tournament, for example.

The expected goals also showed this in the game against Morocco. France came in at 2.43 in this statistic and even ran just under value with the 2-0. Only in the first two games against Australia and Denmark did they get higher xG values than in the semifinal.

In the semifinals, defensive midfielder Adrien Rabiot was out with a cold and was replaced by Youssouf Fofana. However, the more experienced Rabiot should be fit for the final and return to the team.

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France previous World Cup matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	XG	Possession	Accuracy	Duels won
22/11/2022	Australia	N	4 – 1	3.10 : 0.39	60.59%	90.66%	51.52%
26/11/2022	Denmark	N	2 – 1	2.81 : 0.79	50.64%	89.11%	45.23%
30/11/2022	Tunesia	N	0 – 1	0.89 : 0.31	67.91%	86.78%	52.07%
04/12/2022	Poland	N	3 – 1	2.37 : 2.23	52.69%	87.17%	52.38%
10/12/2022	England	N	2 – 1	1.17 : 2.12	41.01%	85.67%	46.63%
14/12/2022	Morocco	N	2 – 0	2.43 : 1.69	38.99%	84.01%	47.12%

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Team comparison

In favor of Argentina:

+ The team improved significantly as the tournament progressed.
+ High level of mentality and fighting spirit
+ Lionel Messi once again emerged as a real leader, scoring four goals in the tournament#
+ Massive midfield compactness in the 4-4-2 system
+ Julián Álvarez is a new young star in the making
+ France have allowed numerous xG in all knockout games

In favor of France:

+ Qualitative and technical advantages
+ With Giroud, France has a target player, unlike Argentina
+ Antoine Griezmann’s flexible role has been key to success so far
+ No notable absences
+ Physical advantages over Argentina
+ France also managed to knock out Argentina in 2018

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The last duel

The clash between Argentina and France has taken place twelve times in soccer history and three times in World Cups. In the group stages of the 1930 and 1978 tournaments, these two teams met, and in 2018, in the most recent encounter to date, they played a heated match in the World Cup round of the last 16.

In Kazan, France prevailed 4-3 in what was arguably the best match of the 2018 World Cup. Griezmann scored from the penalty spot for France, followed by the best goal of the tournament from Benjamin Pavard, before Kylian Mbappé scored a brace. For the Argentines, Ángel Di María, Gabriel Mercado and Sergio Agüero scored.

Overall, Argentina have the edge over France, with 50% of all games played so far being won by the Argentines. Three games ended in draws, three times the French won. Of the three previous matches at World Cups, Argentina won two and lost only in 2018.

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Argentina – France Over Under Prediction

In a World Cup final, there is naturally a lot of pressure on the protagonists on both sides. No one wants to make a mistake; security and stability are the top priorities.

In this case, however, some exciting stories could be written: For example, the possible highlight of the career of the great Lionel Messi, who certainly wants to hijack this final match. Or the second World Cup title for some Frenchmen, including Kylian Mbappé, who could win his second trophy at the tender age of 23.

Both teams have the attack in their DNA and in some other knockout games the teams proved to be “over” teams as well. This is also due to the fact that the French allowed quite a lot of opportunities from their opponents and always had high xG values against them. The Argentines, on the other hand, built up high xG values themselves.

Since especially in a World Cup final every action leads to a reaction, this could turn out to be quite a lively endgame. We therefore bet on an Argentina France over 2.5, i.e. at least three goals in the match.

Argentina – France Over Under Odds

All bookmakers see the probability of a high-scoring final as rather low. The renowned English bookmaker Bet365 currently offers very high odds of @2.50 for an “Over 2.5”, but only @1.53 for an “Under 2.5”.

We have summarized the best World Cup Final Over Under odds for you:

GOALS	OVER	UNDER
0.5	1.10	7.00
1.5	1.44	2.75
2.5	2.50	1.53
3.5	4.50	1.20
4.5	10.00	1.062
5.5	21.00	1.015
6.5	51.00	1.002

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Argentina – France Prediction

All bookmakers see the final of the 2022 World Cup as an extremely even affair. The two teams have had a relatively similar tournament, and each has the top scorer in the tournament so far. On one side, there is a seasoned star in Lionel Messi, and on the other, shooting-star Kylian Mbappé.

However, the French have the more balanced team, and although they may not have played to the maximum of their potential, they have more quality than the Argentines. The latter, in turn, are the stronger fighters, but do not feature a typical World Cup-winning squad and will need an exceptional performance against the French to bring home the trophy for the third time.

However, we bet on France being the more stable of the two teams to prevail. Our betting recommendation is therefore a victory for the French after 90 minutes, as they already managed to do against Croatia in 2018.

Argentina – France Correct Score Bet

Both teams are defined by their attacking players. In defense, both sides have shown weaknesses time and again throughout the tournament. It is striking, for example, that Argentina have allowed only 2.29 Expected Goals by their opponents in their six games so far, but have conceded five goals. Against Argentina in particular, other teams seem to be very efficient.

In addition, the Argentines have already been awarded four penalties in the current tournament, of which Lionel Messi converted three. This has to do with the dribbling ability of the “Gauchos” in the attack and another penalty in the final would not be unlikely.

In the case of the French, practically all players can score a goal and “Les Bleus” should also have advantages in set-pieces due to their physicality. The bottom line is that everything is set for a high-scoring and exciting final, in which our Argentina France result tip is a 2-1 win for France.

Golden Boot odds

Another interesting bet, which will be decided only in the World Cup final, is who will win the Golden Boot. Four players realistically have the chance to win this award for themselves.

Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, the two big stars of this final, currently lead the scoreboard with five goals each. Behind them lurk Julián Álvarez and Olivier Giroud, two teammates of the stars with four goals each.

Our bookmaker test winner Bet365 sees Lionel Messi at a slight advantage due to his rising form and offers odds of @1.909 for the little Argentine to score. For Kylian Mbappé, you currently get odds of @2.05. Álvaraz and Giroud have only underdog chances with odds of @11.00.

In fact, we are betting on Lionel Messi because, unlike Mbappé, he can also be dangerous from free kicks and the Argentines have also been awarded numerous penalties. Just one more penalty could decide not only the World Cup final, but also the battle for top scorer of the tournament,

Argentina – France Goalscorer Odds

The two favorites for the title of World Cup top scorer are also almost equal favorites to score in the World Cup final. Here, too, Lionel Messi has a bit of a lead according to the odds. If the Argentine superstar scores at any point, odds of @2.62 await, and if he scores the first goal of the match, you can even win back 4.75 times your stake.

Next is French star Kylian Mbappé, who is offered odds of @2.75 for a goal at any time. For the first goal in the match, Mbappé is offered at @5.00. Immediately following are the two underdogs for the scoring title – Julián Álvarez and Olivier Giroud.

PLAYER	GOAL (ANY TIME)	FIRST GOAL
Lionel Messi (ARG)	2.62	4.75
Kylian Mbappé (FRA)	2.75	5.00
Julián Álvarez (ARG)	3.75	7.00
Olivier Giroud (FRA)	4.33	8.00
Lautaro Martínez (ARG)	4.33	8.00
Marcus Thuram (FRA)	5.00	9.50
Paulo Dybala (ARG)	5.00	9.50
Randal Kolo Muani (FRA)	5.00	9.50
Alejandro Gómez (ARG)	5.00	10.00
Antoine Griezmann (FRA)	5.00	10.00
Ousmane Dembélé (FRA)	5.00	10.00

The odds for Olivier Giroud are particularly interesting here. He is the target player for the French and has the same odds as Lautaro Martínez, who is not even expected to be in the starting lineup. His odds are only slightly lower than those of Paulo Dybala, who has only made one brief appearance in the entire World Cup so far.

Betting on Olivier Giroud to score a goal is therefore a value bet.

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FAQ – Questions and answers about Argentina – France at the 2022 World Cup