The World Cup Final Four
Per FIFA World Cup tradition, the two semifinals will take place on different days with one semifinal on Tuesday, December 13 and the other on Wednesday, December 14. The two winners will play in the World Cup finals, Sunday, December 18.
Argentina vs Croatia
Date: Tuesday, December 13
Time: 2 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. GMT / 10 p.m. local in Qatar
Stadium: Lusail Iconic Stadium (Lusail, Qatar)
In the first of two 2022 World Cup semi-final matches, Argentina is the popular pick to advance. Spreads.ca has Messi's team winning priced at 1.39 (1.83 to win in regulation). Croatia is an underdog at 3.00 (4.95 to win in regulation). The O/U is 2.5 goals, heavily shaded to the UNDER at 1.70.
Argentina, led by superstar Lionel Messi, came into the World Cup as one of the favourites but they face a big roadblock in the semi-final on Tuesday with 2018 runners-up Croatia, who proved too much for the other title contenders, Brazil.
The Croats stunned the tournament favourites in the quarter-finals with a vintage performance, after going a goal down in extra-time but digging deep to bounce back and force a penalty shootout that they ended up winning.
Kickoff is Tuesday at 2 pm ET / 11 am PT.
France vs Morocco
Date: Wednesday, December 14
Time: 2 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. GMT / 10 p.m. local in Qatar
Stadium: Al Bayt Stadium (Al Khor, Qatar)
In the second of two 2022 World Cup semi-final matches, defending champion France is an even more overwhelming pick to advance. Spreads.ca has the French team winning priced at 1.32 (1.54 to win in regulation). Cinderella story Morocco is a huge underdog at 4.25 (7.50 to win in regulation). The O/U is 2.5 goals, heavily shaded to the UNDER at 1.58.
So, France remains right on course in its title defense after beating England 2-1 to reach the semifinals at Qatar 2022. France took a first-half lead, and held on, although England did make things interesting.
The surpirse team of this year's tournament, Morocco wrote it's place World Cup history on Saturday night as the first African and Arab country to reach the tournament’s semi-finals, continuing their surprise run in Qatar with a shocking 1-0 victory over the highly favoured Portugal.
Kickoff is Wednesday at 2 pm ET / 11 am PT.
Predictions (powered by Pointspreads.ca):
We'll go with an upset in the first game and the favourite in the second game.
Croatia could win, especially given Argentina's volatility. The price is too generous to pass up.
France is a near certainty to reach the final, not because Morocco is a weak opponent (credit to the first African team to go this deep in the World Cup) but rather because this is a stacked powerhouse team that knows how to win on the big stage.
Our prediction for the World Cup final is Croatia vs. France.
