France vs Australia - 2022 World Cup Betting Guide

For France, this match will have huge significance. The last time they were defending champions at a World Cup, they lost their first match, and then went on to crash out in the group stage. This was the beginning of the "European World Cup Champions' Curse", and Italy, Spain and Germany all experienced the same phenomena. As this strange "curse" started with France in 2002, they may be the nation to break the curse this year. For Australia, it will be their toughest game in the group, and they will hope that they can cause a major upset.

France Team Info – Aiming for Successive Victories

France are the reigning champions of the World Cup, and they will return to the event this year with hopes of winning their third title. They first won the World Cup in 1998, when they had a brilliant team that featured the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Laurent Blanc, Lillian Thuram, and their captain Didier Deschamps, amongst many more. They reached all the way to the final, where they beat Brazil 3-0. 20 years later, France, now managed by Didier Deschamps, breezed through the group stage, where they played against Australia, Denmark, and Peru. They then had a tough road ahead, but won their knockout games against Argentina, Uruguay, and Belgium, to reach the World Cup final. They played against underdogs Croatia, who they beat 4-2 to win their second World Cup title, and Didier Deschamps became the third manager in the history of the competition to win as both a player and manager.

The current French squad may be even stronger than their squad in the previous World Cup. Up front they now have Karim Benzema, who was not called up for a number of years because of a scandal off the pitch. He is a Ballon d'Or nominee, and he will join Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, and Anthony Martial in attack. Their midfield has world class players of the game such as N'Golo Kante, Paul Pogba, Christopher Nkunku, and the highly rated youngster Aurelien Tchouameni. Raphael Varane is their key defender, alongside players such as Benjamin Parvard, Dayot Upamecano, Ferland Mendy and Clement Lenglet. Hugo Lloris is their longtime goalkeeper, and he has been capped 139 times for the team.

Australia Team Info – Aiming for the Round of 16

Australia had an impressive qualification campaign in which they scored 45 goals across 20 games, only conceding 12 times. With their qualification, the Socceroos, as the team is called locally, qualified for their 5th World Cup competition in a row. The nation first entered the World Cup in 1974, but they were knocked out in the first group round. They would then qualify in 2006, where they made their best run, reaching the round of 16. Since then, Australia have not managed to pass the group stage. In 2018, they were put into a group with Denmark, France, and Peru. Australia lost 2 games and could only manage a 1-1 draw with Denmark, making them crash out in fourth place.

Most of the Australian national players play in leagues abroad. Their goalkeeper, Matthew Ryan, plays in Copenhagen. He is the best capped player amongst the current squad with 74 appearances for his country. In defence, they have Aziz Behich, Milos Degenek, Bailey Wright, and Trent Sainsbury. Aaron Mooy is their key midfielder, scoring 7 goals in his 52 caps. He currently plays in the Scottish Premiership for Celtic. Next to fim, there are Jackson Irvine, Ajdin Hrustic, and Tom Rogic, who also play in European football leagues. Matthew Leckie is the only Australian striker to have scored double digits, with 13 goals from his 71 caps. There are also a handful of strikers that can be played alongside him such as Awer Mabil, Jamie Maclaren, and Martin Boyle.

France vs Australia Head-to-head

France and Australia have only ever played against each other once in the World Cup. That match was in the 2018 World Cup when France beat them 2-1 in the group stage. They also met in the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup, when Australia beat France.

France vs Australia Betting Preview

This match will definitely be one to keep an eye on, and you can raise the stakes by trying out some of the fantastic bets we offer on it. You will find all types of bets on how France will perform and on how Australia will perform, as well as bets on key players such as Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Karim Benzema, and so on.

Asian Handicaps

With handicaps you can lengthen the odds of betting on a team to win or you can use a favourable handicap that shortens their odds but increases the likelihood of the bet to win. Your chosen team will need to win the game by a certain margin or more, and if you give them a positive margin then they will need to not lose by more than a certain margin.

For example, you can bet on France to beat Australia with a handicap of -2.5 which will mean you need France to win the game by 3 or more goals. If you set a margin of -2 then this will mean France also needs to win the game by 3 or more goals, but if they win by only 2 goals then two teams will draw and the money you staked will be returned.

If you bet on France to win with a handicap of -2.25 then what this does is split your stake and half of it will go on a handicap of -2.5 and the other on a handicap of -2. If France wins the game by 3 goals or more then both bets have won and you will receive your full returns. If France only wins the game by 2 goals then you will receive half the money you staked back.

Player Goals

You can find player bets where you can bet on Mbappe to score, Benzema to score, Matthew Leckie to score, and bets on any other players in the starting lineup to score. There will also be more specific bets such as which player will score the first goal of the game and which player will score the last goal of the game.

Over/Under Total Goals

With total goals bets you can bet on how many goals you think will be scored by both teams in the match. You will have to pick one betting line from the numerous offered and then bet on whether the game will end with over or under the number of goals defined by the line. If you think France, Australia, or both teams will score many goals, then you can bet on the two teams to score 4.5 goals or more.

And Many More

The bets listed here are just a few of the many options you can try out. France to win the first half, either team to score in 5 minutes, France to win 4-1, Australia to score 1 or more goals, both teams to score, France to win both halves, France to reverse the result, France to lead after 30 minutes, are some examples of bets that may interest you.

You should always remember to gamble responsibly. There are many bets available for each group match in the World Cup, and as there are so many games, it is easy to be carried away and overspend. You can find a lot of information about gambling at gambleaware.co.uk