Coming from Europe, France and Switzerland are no strangers to each other as their Group E meeting on Friday at the World Cup in Brazil will be their 37th of all time. Both teams won their opening matches, which means three points will likely wrap up the top spot for one of these two sides.
World Cup Odds: France -135, Switzerland +400, Draw +270
Why France Can Win
Even though Honduras isn’t that great and they were down a man for the second half because of their own rough play, France still had a job to do and they did it very well in a 3-0 victory. Karim Benzema was incredible with two goals and he could have earned the hat trick, but an own goal was ruled against Honduras keeper Noel Valladares. The French hit the woodwork a couple times and missed more chances that could have turned this game into a complete mess, and they were lucky to come away unscathed after some rash challenges from their overmatched opponents. Switzerland will be more apt to play with them, which plays right into France’s hands.
Much was made of the absence of Franck Ribery because of a back injury, but Mathieu Valbuena played well leading up to the World Cup and continued it against Honduras. He’ll be key against the Swiss.
Why Switzerland Can Win
Switzerland showed a lot of heart in coming back from a 1-0 deficit to beat Ecuador 2-1, and it was a pair of substitutes in Haris Seferovic and Admir Mehmedi that put the Swiss up. Seferovic scored with just about 23 seconds left in extra time for Switzerland, who came out with more attacking intent than many expected, but that was probably because they were going against Ecuador, who also showed some heart, but they aren’t a very good team and when push came to shove, the Swiss stepped up.
Switzerland will have their hands full in midfield as the French can dominate that area with the likes of Paul Pogba, Yohan Cabaye and Blaise Matuidi. If the Swiss aren’t careful, they can be overrun in that area of the pitch and that leads to fatigue, which leads to mistakes, which leads to goals. However, they have played France tough in the past, so that is encouraging.
Outlook
The last four meetings out of their total of 36 between these two have come in tournament play, with France taking a 3-1 win at Euro 2004 in Portugal, but the last three have been draws. The Swiss are going to be hard to break down and they won’t be so apt to push forward as they were against Ecuador because they know the quality France has with Benzema, and then they can bring on Oliver Giroud. France will eventually wear down Switzerland to take the three points and hold on to the top spot in Group E, but it isn’t going to be a walk in the park at all.
Pick: France
