Published Jun 7, 1:16pm ET by
Demilade Adelekun - Betting Preview Analyst and Sports Writer
Last updated Jun 7, 1:16pm ET
Credit: Shutterstock
Updated Jun 7, 1:16pm ET
France and Iraq meet on matchday 2 of Group I at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, with Didier Deschamps coaching his final World Cup.
Kylian Mbappé leads a France attack that reached consecutive World Cup finals in 2018 and 2022.
Didier Deschamps confirmed this is his last tournament. He wants a third World Cup. France beat Brazil 2-1 on American soil in March. They topped their European qualifying group, dropping just two points across the campaign. The squad he brings to Philadelphia is the deepest attacking group at this tournament. Kylian Mbappé sits one goal from Olivier Giroud's all-time France scoring record. Ousmane Dembélé won the Ballon d'Or. Michael Olise scored 15 Bundesliga goals and five in the Champions League at Bayern Munich this season. Rayan Cherki runs the creative threads from Manchester City. Bradley Barcola and Désir Doué rotate behind them.
Iraq haven't seen quality like this since their only previous World Cup appearance in 1986. They qualified as the tournament's 48th and final team, beating Bolivia 2-1 in Mexico on March 31. That win was earned, and for a country returning to this stage after 40 years, the emotion is real. But emotion doesn't stop Mbappé.
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Iraq deserve credit for being here. They squeezed through a playoff involving Bolivia and Suriname with composure they hadn't shown in years. Ali Jasim is the most dangerous player in the squad, a 22-year-old winger with close control and set-piece delivery who can unlock defences in tight spaces. Aymen Hussein scored nine goals in qualifying and gives them a legitimate goal threat up front. Coach Graham Arnold has built the kind of disciplined defensive block that makes teams work for everything.
The problem is simple. France's midfield presses at a level Iraq haven't faced before, and Tchouaméni and Rabiot behind Mbappé and Dembélé gives them the ball-winning structure to sustain that pressure for 90 minutes. Iraq's best chance is chaos. A set piece, a counter, a moment of individual magic from Jasim. Against this France side, that's a thin thread.
Deschamps chasing legacy, Mbappé chasing the scoring record, and the deepest attacking squad at the tournament against Iraq's first World Cup group game in 40 years. France win and they win comfortably. The price is steep, but there is no credible path to an Iraq result here. We're backing France -700.
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Pick
France -700
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