France vs Belgium

France begin their Euro 2024 knockouts campaign with a tough tie against Belgium at Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf on Monday. Didier Deschamps’ men surprisingly finished second in Group D and that has resulted in them being placed in the tougher half of the knockouts draw. Despite making it all the way to the World Cup Final 18 months ago, France has been thoroughly underwhelming at the Euros. They managed just one win in the group, a narrow 1-0 victory over Austria, and a draw in their final game cost them top spot. It will be interesting to see how they react.

Speaking of underwhelming, Belgium have been just that themselves. Drawn in Group E, the Red Devils should have cruised through, but that wasn’t the case. A surprising 1-0 defeat to Slovakia in their opener put them on the back foot from the off, but they bounced back to beat Romania 2-0 next time out. They had the chance to top the group in their hands but were able to beat Ukraine; instead, their 0-0 meant that all four teams ended on 4 points. Belgium finished second behind Romania courtesy of a goal difference.

So far in the tournament, France have shown more attacking threat and, but for some better finishing, could have topped their group. That’s been enough for the bookies to install France as the favourites to win the tie in 90 minutes. The odds are pretty tempting on that one as a single, but we’re more tempted by the draw. Both sides have only conceded one goal so far in the competition but haven’t been free-scoring either. That’s leading us to tip up the 0-0 correct score in the regulation 90 minutes, along with France to progress via penalties.

Check the table with our top picks below:

Finally, don’t skip checking our top choices for the other Sunday match: Portugal vs Slovenia.