World Cup Betting Team Handicaps: France

With the World Cup right around the corner, we’ll be handicapping the field and assessing their chances of winning the tournament. Most importantly, we’ll look at the World Cup betting odds to determine whether each team is a good value. We’ll be starting with the favored teams and working our way down the list over the next couple of weeks. After that we’ll recommend specific betting positions on futures and prop bets, and once the tournament starts we’ll have World Cup betting free picks every day. Make Oddsbay your home for the best soccer betting free picks and handicapping information anywhere!
France is always loaded with world class talent, but their World Cup performances have revealed them to be something of an enigma. The won the Cup at home in 1998 and reached the finals in 2006 before succumbing to Italy in penalty kicks. The final was marred by Zinedine Zidane’s infamous head butting of an Italian defender which got him a red card and made him a worldwide pariah. France also reached the semifinals in 1982 and 1986. In addition, France won the European title in 2000 and the Confederations Cup in 2001 and 2003.
In addition to these successes have been a number of disappointing performances. France failed to qualify for the World Cup in 1990 and 1994, and failed to advance from the group stage in 2002. So how will they fare in 2010? The team has plenty of talent as usual but a number of key players are arguably past their prime. Expectations are high, but a recent exhibition match against Spain resulted in a non-competitive 2-0 loss at home. They are the #8 favorite to win the World Cup, but soccer betting odds have them priced at a relatively hefty +2250—perhaps accurately reflecting the questions that surround the team and their history of up and down performances.
France’s captain is Thierry Henry, who is well known to fans of European soccer. Henry had a great run with Arsenal in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s and is current with Spanish La Liga champions Barcelona. Long considered one of the world’s best offensive players, Henry could be on the downside of his career. After a 19 goal season for Barcelona in 2008-2009 he only managed 4 goals in 21 games this year.
Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery was a key contributor to France’s 2006 World Cup campaign and will be expected to reprise that performance this year. He’s only 27 years old, but his production was also down this year and he’s yet to score a goal for France during the current World Cup qualifying and exhibition cycle. As if that weren’t enough, Ribery has been at the center of a controversy involving his patronage of an underage prostitute.
William Gallas, Florent Malouda and Eric Abidal all started in the 2006 Final and are back with the team this time around though the infamous Zindane has retired. Hugo Lloris is the starting goalkeeper and although he’s well respected this will be his first high level International competition. Starting defensive midfielder Lassana Diarra will miss the World Cup with an intestinal ailment.
France is definitely the most talented team in Group A, and this should be enough for them to advance to the knockout stage. It is by no means a slam dunk, however, as Mexico and host South Africa could give them trouble. It’s worth noting that the World Cup host team has never failed to advance to the knockout stage, so Group A should be exceptionally competitive. Winning the group will be crucial for France—the winning team will face the #2 team from Group B in the first knockout bracket. The runner up, however, will meet the Group B winner which will almost certainly be mighty Argentina.
Between their tough group assignments, a potential clash with Argentina early in the knockout stage and the questions surrounding the team it’s hard to recommend a World Cup betting position on France. With double digit prices available on solid European teams like Germany and Italy, as well as several higher priced sides with considerable upside there’s better value to be had elsewhere. With a few breaks and inspired play from their aging stars France could make a good run in the competition, but it’s by no means a certainty.