GAME INFORMATION: 3 P.M., MONDAY, JUNE 28 AT ARENA NACIONALA, BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
TV: ESPN
BETTING ODDS: FRANCE -175/SWITZERLAND +550/DRAW +280
TO ADVANCE: FRANCE -450/SWITZERLAND +300
TOTALS: OVER 2.5 +115/UNDER 2.5 -155
To be fair, neither of these sides have looked all that impressive at this tournament. France entered as the pre-tournament favorites, given that they were crowned champions at the 2018 World Cup, but the French have been pedestrian in getting draws with both Hungary and Portugal. Switzerland put in a strong performance against Turkey to reach the knockout stages, but given that the Turks finished dead last in the tournament, that’s not nearly as impressive as it should have been. Switzerland wasn’t anywhere near good enough against Italy, and it’s got to be better if it hopes to have any chance against France.
MATCH BET: FRANCE TO WIN TO NIL, +125
Reason: We’ve yet to see a group winner come out and dominate its match, as Belgium and Italy scraped by and the Netherlands lost (Belgium is the only group winner who has actually scored in regular time in the knockout stages), but I think this is the one. Nobody has ever gone broke betting against Switzerland in the knockout stage of a major tournament, because the Swiss haven’t won a knockout stage match at the World Cup or Euros since World War II. They’re 0-5 since 1938, and they’ve been shut out in three of their past four knockout stage matches.
SCORE BET: FRANCE 3, SWITZERLAND 0, +1000
Reason: If Italy was able to hit Switzerland for three goals, France should be able to do something similar. France has been waiting for a big match, and this seems like it should be the one for Les Bleus. Switzerland has been a defensive side in years past, but the Swiss have conceded in five of their past six matches, including twice to Finland in a warmup for the Euros. If you can’t hold the Finns off the scoresheet, good luck doing so against France.
SIDE BET: SECOND HALF HIGHER SCORING, +115
Reason: Switzerland has imploded in the second half, giving up four of the five goals it’s conceded in the second 45 minutes. As I think they’re likely to chase the game in the final 45 minutes, I think there’s a good chance that they end up conceding multiple times in the second half in their attempts to catch up.
