France have sealed the top spot in Group E in the World Cup thanks to a couple of ruthless performances, and Switzerland couldn’t control the French at all, which leaves them in a tough position going into the group-stage finale against Honduras. While the Swiss are tied with Ecuador on three points, Ecuador holds a two-goal lead in differential and that means Switzerland has to get the win to give themselves a chance. Meanwhile, Honduras are out and playing for pride as they are still searching for their first World Cup win.
World Cup Odds: Switzerland -225, Honduras +705, Draw +345
Why Switzerland Can Win
Switzerland can score goals with four through the first two games, and they’ll need to do so if they want to give themselves a chance to get to the next round. Three of their four goals have scored by substitutes, which is interesting and the Swiss can’t afford to leave this until late with Ecuador playing France at the same time. They have more quality than Honduras and they have to jump on them early and often; if the Swiss can frustrate their opponents into a sending off, even better because Honduras is a physical team that can go overboard sometimes.
However, the defense has been exposed a few times so far in the tournament and they were demolished by France. Steve von Bergen was kicked in the face by Olivier Giroud and might not be able to play in this game, which is a blow to that part of the team.
Why Honduras Can Win
There aren’t a lot of reasons as to why Honduras can win this game, but they at least tried to play with Ecuador after looking to intimidate France in their opener, which didn’t work at all. Carlo Costly scored their first goal of the tournament and their first World Cup goal since 1982 in Spain; they didn’t qualify for another World Cup until four years ago in South Africa, in which they failed to score a goal. They showed they can attack at times against Ecuador, but they were wasteful with the ball, both shooting and with the final pass, and converting a couple of those opportunities mean all the difference in a tournament like the World Cup.
Honduras has never won a World Cup game and this will be their ninth overall, so that is a motivating factor. They have nothing to lose going into this match, and that can be dangerous for the Swiss.
Outlook
These two countries have met just once, and that came four years ago in the group stage in South Africa. The two played to a 0-0 draw as both were eliminated after three games, but there should be goals in this game because Switzerland has to win to have a shot at the next round and with Ecuador playing France, they can sneak in with a victory. It’ll be a tough game for the Swiss, but they’ll squeeze through with some help from the French.
Pick: Switzerland
