World Cup Odds: First place is on the line on Thursday in Group C as Colombia plays Ivory Coast in a match that can be seen on ESPN. Both teams were able to win their opening matches as Colombia routed Greece while Ivory Coast came from behind to defeat Japan. The winner of this match on Thursday will be in great shape to advance to the round of 16 while the loser will go back into danger. Let’s look at the match and World Cup predictions.
Colombia +105, Ivory Coast +260, Draw +250, total 2.5 under
The money line has Colombia at -200 and Ivory Coast at +165.
Ivory Coast Can’t Afford another Slow Start
Ivory Coast did not start well against Japan but they were able to get two second half goals to pull out a victory. Headers from Wilfried Bony and Gervinho saved Cote d’Ivoire from defeat. A slow start against Colombia would spell disaster as Colombia is a far superior team to Japan. The player that inspired Ivory Coast in their opener was Didier Drogba’ who came on in the second half. It was the first time that Ivory Coast has ever won their opening match at the World Cup. They have never made it out of the group stage.
Colombia Ignores Injuries
The Colombia team was very impressive in the opener as they routed Japan by a score of 3-0. They did so without striker Radamel Falcao. Pablo Armero and Teofilo Gutierrez scored the first two goals while James Rodriguez scored the third. The question that will be answered on Thursday is whether Colombia was really good or whether Greece was really bad.
World Cup Predictions
Both Colombia and Ivory Coast were helped by playing weak opponents in their openers. This match should give us a much better idea of the strength of each squad. I think Colombia has too much for Ivory Coast so I will take them at +105 in World Cup betting odds on the three-way line to win this match on Thursday.
