France to make Portugal pay the price
Portugal's surprise 4-2 defeat to Germany, coupled with France having to come from behind to draw with Hungary, las left all four sides in Group F with realistic hopes of qualification to the knockout stages going into the final round of fixtures. A draw will be sufficient for Les Bleus to achieve that, but not necessarily as pool winners. Depending on Didier Deschamps' mentality, this could play directly into his hands. Read our preview here:
Nelson's column
The undoing for A Seleção in their six-goal thriller with Die Mannschaft was down their flanks, and the right side more specifically time and again. Fernando Santos' troops had previously looked reasonably comfortable in defence, but big questions must now be asked about just how they're going to keep Kylian Mbappé, Paul Pogba, and the returning Lucas Hernández from exploiting that newly identified weakness. Nélson Semedo needs far greater protection than he was afforded in the big loss, all whilst simultaneously having the confidence to support Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest of the forward line.
For Griez a jolly good fellow
Putting the own goal scored by Mats Hummels aside, the world champions have just one to their name, with several strikes chalked off in the Germany encounter. Against Hungary, they were dominant on the ball, but looked prone themselves on the break, proving that even they can be 'human' in the tournament. Antoine Griezmann is the link between Mbappé, Karim Benzema, and the three-man midfield behind the Barcelona star. Holding onto the ball will be their first weapon in the battle with Portugal, and keeping them chasing it, happy as they might be to do so, will be the watch-word.
Vas-y!
Deschamps need not concern himself too much with what happens away from Budapest in Munich. He will play for the win in the knowledge that a draw will see his charges through, confident in their collective belief they can take on whoever might lie waiting for them in the last 16. A repeat of the 2016 final in name only, France will have a measure of revenge, and Casumo have them at 2.25 to win.
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