No one picked Algeria to win a game at the World Cup in Brazil, much less to get through to the round of 16. However, the Algerians have done so for the first time in their history. It is a good thing they are used to being the underdog as they will meet one of the favorites to win it all on Monday, stepping up to take on Germany, who barely broke a sweat in winning Group G.
World Cup Odds: Germany -345, Algeria +950, Draw +485
Odds To Advance: Germany -800, Algeria +575
Why Germany Can Win
The fact that Germany barely had to raise their game to win Group G, which was called the “group of death” going into the tournament, has to put fear into their opponents. Their roughest patch came in the second half of their 2-2 draw with Ghana, who gave them a scare, but even if they had taken a lead, no one would have been surprised if Germany tied it up. Thomas Muller has four goals now and nine in total at the World Cup at 24 years old, and then Germany can bring on Miroslav Klose, who scored against Ghana to tie the World Cup record of 15 goals, set by Brazil’s Ronaldo. Then you have a midfield that goes about six or seven players deep.
However, the German defense has had some nervous moments in the tournament so far and they’ll have to get better if Germany is going to win their fourth World Cup.
Why Algeria Can Win
Algeria can win because, why not? They’re the biggest surprise of the round of 16 and many wrote them off further when they lost their opener against Belgium, which they led for 70 minutes. This is a disciplined team that can defend in numbers and they can score on the counter, and Islam Slimani leads the team with two goals, but four other players have scored as well, so they don’t depend on one man. They also have motivation as Algeria’s first-ever World Cup match was in 1982 in Spain, where they beat the former West Germany team, but there have been accusations of collusion between the West Germans and Austria to draw in the final match, which eliminated Algeria.
Obviously, Algeria isn’t as talented as Germany, but at this point in the World Cup, that matters less. You have 90-plus minutes to win one game and that is all Algeria needs in what would arguably be the biggest World Cup upset ever.
Outlook
Germany hasn’t faced Algeria since unifying, but people still remember what happened in 1982, so that will be a talking point going into the match. Algeria will likely do what they did against Belgium and that is defend until they can’t anymore, but Germany is better than Belgium and if they give up a penalty like Belgium did, they’ll be quicker to respond. Algeria won’t make it easy on the Germans, but the favorites will go to the quarterfinals.
Pick: Germany
