France vs. Morocco Betting Tips: Olivier Giroud backed in World Cup 2022 semi final

Live on BBC One, the reigning World Champions France go up against Morocco in the semi finals of the World Cup at the Al Bayt Stadium this Wednesday night (7pm).

Tipster Wizard previews the match and provides his two top tips...

The French side topped their group with 6 points, comfortably beat Poland 3-1 in the round of 16s and then overcame England in a narrow 2-1 win in the quarterfinals.

It was certainly not their best performance against England but their experience of the big stage coupled up with Tchouameni’s thunderbolt and Giroud’s header meant they took a giant step towards defending their World Cup title.

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Les Blues will take confidence from the fact that they have won their last three successive semifinals in the World Cup in 1998, 2006 and 2018, and will be favourites to go through again.

As for Morocco, they have been the story of the tournament so far. They have already cemented their place in the history books by becoming the first ever African nation to qualify for the World Cup semifinals.

After topping a group which had Belgium and Croatia in it, they managed to beat Spain on penalties and then pulled off a dramatic 1-0 win over Portugal.

They possess the best defence in the World Cup so far having conceded just 1 goal in the whole tournament: an own goal scored by their own defender Nayef Aguerd.

They will certainly not be the favourites to progress but their grit and determination so far in this tournament shows that they can not be underestimated.

A massive World Cup semifinal awaits us, and as usual I have you covered with 2 of my best betting angles below:

Team News:

France come into this game with no missing players.

Nayef Aguerd & Cheddira are out for Morocco while Romain Saiss, Mazraoui & Sabiri are doubtful.

France possible starting lineup:

Lloris; Kounde, Varane, Upamecano, T. Hernandez; Tchouameni, Rabiot; Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe; Giroud

Morocco possible starting lineup:

Bono; Hakimi, El Yamiq, Dari, Mazraoui; Ounahi, Amrabat, Amallah; Ziyech, En-Nesyri, Boufa

It has been a sensational tournament for the Morrocans as they qualified for the semifinals for the first time in history but they could potentially be without 3 of their 4 starting defenders.

Defence has been a strong part of Morocco’s World Cup campaign so far and with players struggling in that department, I have to fancy the reigning World Champions to do what no team has been able to do so far: score against Morocco.

This will be all about finding that first goal for France and if they manage to do that then there will be a lot of openings in the Moroccan back line to take advantage of with Mbappe and Giroud in stellar form, I am not ruling them out from scoring multiple goals.

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Both these players are also in the running for the Golden Boot so I don’t expect France to go too defensive after they take the lead.

Morocco will definitely provide a challenge and defend for their lives but in the end I expect France’s experience and quality in attack to be the difference maker here and help them progress to the finals of the World Cup.

With the -1.0 asian line, we will get a refund if France win by 1 goal so this looks like a solid angle and I am happy to stake 1pt on that as our main 19/20 bet for this game with bet365.

29% of Giroud’s goals for France have come through headers and he has already scored 2 headers in the World Cup so far with one being the winner against England in the quarterfinals.

With Morocco adopting a narrow and compact approach in the midfield, a lot of France’s action will come from the flanks and with the likes of Mbappe and Dembele floating those balls into the box, I can definitely see Giroud getting on the end of one of them and scoring past a Morocco side who are riddled with defensive injuries.

8/1 is a big price on both Paddy Power and betfair and I am happy to stake a small 0.25pt on this as my 2nd bet for this huge semifinal.

Best of luck if you follow these selections. Please always gamble responsibly.