France are always a well fancied team in the World Cup odds but it has to be said they don't look to have their best squad in recent years.
France had a poor qualifying campaign and their manager is probably on his way out after the World Cup as he hasn't been getting the best out of the players. South Africa as hosts should do well and could easily finish ahead of France leaving only Uruguay or Mexico also needing to get the better of France.
France have not lived up to expectations for some time, in fact ever since star player Zinedine Zidane retired, and despite being fancied at Euro 2008 they finished bottom of their group, even behind Romania who then didn't qualify for the World Cup.
If France are to fail to qualify then it is most likely they will win one game and lose the other two or draw two games and lose the other. Both have decent chances and both are covered within this bet.
France found goals hard to come by in qualifying, in eight games they scored just once or not at all and a repeat of that sort of form should see them scoring no more than three goals, especially as they are coming up against tougher teams here than in qualifying.
As previously mentioned France have been struggling for goals and South Africa have shown they have a great defence in recent matches, they conceded just two goals in five of their warm up matches for the World Cup.
Click ODDS to read full previews for each of the France world cup matches
| Date | Team | Scores | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06/09/08 | Austria | 3 - 1 | France |
| 10/09/08 | France | 2 - 1 | Serbia |
| 11/10/08 | Romania | 2 - 2 | France |
| 28/03/09 | Lithuania | 0 -1 | France |
| 01/04/09 | France | 1 - 0 | Lithuania |
| 12/08/09 | Faroe Islands | 0 - 1 | France |
| 05/09/09 | France | 1 - 1 | Romania |
| 09/09/09 | Serbia | 1 - 1 | France |
| 10/10/09 | France | 5 - 0 | Faroe Islands |
| 14/10/09 | France | 3 - 1 | Austria |
| 14/11/09 | Republic Of Ireland | 0 - 1 | France |
| 18/11/09 | France | 0 - 1 | Republic Of Ireland |
France struggled to qualify from the World Cup after some disappointing results and they are going to have to improve massively to feature in the World Cup and to justify their World Cup odds.
| Goalkeepers | Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Cedric Carrasso (Bordeaux) |
| Defenders | William Gallas (Arsenal/ENG), Eric Abidal (Barcelona/ESP), Bakary Sagna (Arsenal/ENG), Patrice Evra (Manchester United/ENG), Gael Clichy (Arsenal/ENG), Marc Planus (Bordeaux), Anthony Reveillere (Lyon), Sebastien Squillaci (Sevilla/ESP) |
| Midfielders | Abou Diaby (Arsenal/ENG), Alou Diarra (Bordeaux), Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux), Florent Malouda (Chelsea/ENG), Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon) |
| Strikers | Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea/ENG), Djibril Cisse (Panathinaikos/GRE), Andre-Pierre Gignac (Toulouse), Sidney Govou (Lyon), Thierry Henry (Barcelona/ESP), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich/GER), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille) |
*All stats reflect bookies rules for own goals and 90 mins play in their respective markets.
| Player | Games (Sub) | Goals Scored | 1st Goals | Last Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thierry Henry | 11 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Andre-Pierre Gignac | 6 (2) | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Nicolas Anelka | 6 (2) | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Franck Ribery | 3 (3) | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Karim Benzema | 3 (5) | 2 | 1 | 1 |
3 France players scored a single goal during qualification.
| France Goal Stats | France Result Stats | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Games | 12 | No. Of Games | 12 |
| Goals | 19 | No. Of Games Won | 7 |
| Conceded | 10 | No. Of Games Drawn | 3 |
| First Goals | 8 | No. Of Games Lost | 2 |
| Last Goals | 9 | No. Of Games Winning At Half Time | 3 |
| Over 2.5 | 5 | No. Of Games Drawing At Half Time | 6 |
| Under 2.5 | 7 | No. Of Games Losing At Half Time | 3 |
| Clean Sheet | 5 | ||
| None Scored | 1 | ||
| Year | Stage of Exit |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Runners Up. Eliminated on penalties against Italy in Final |
| 2002 | Eliminated at Group Stage |
| 1998 | Winners. Beat Brazil in the Final |
| 1994 | Did not qualify |
| 1990 | Did not qualify |
Lay France to qualify from their group in South Africa. They struggled in qualifying against worse teams than they will face in their group and they are likely to go home pretty early. This bet should reward at generous World Cup odds.
Winner: 100pts; Runner-up: 75pts; Lose Semi-Final: 50pts, Lose Quarter-Final: 25pts; Last 16: 10pts; Others: 0pts.
We are strongly opposing France at the World Cup so the best bet is to sell their outright tournament index . The worse they perform, the more you will make, and we think you will make a nice profit.