2018 FIFA World Cup Betting Review Day 13

2018 FIFA World Cup Betting Review Day 13

Tuesday’s action from the 2018 World Cup saw the round robin finales for Groups C and D. Peru, already eliminated from contention for the knockout rounds, delivered a stunning rout of Australia, rolling to a 2-0 win and leaving the Socceroos disappointed about what might have been had they been able to deliver a result against Denmark instead of settling for the draw. France emerged as the winner of Group C, with Denmark also qualifying as the runner-up. In Group D, Croatia completed the sweep and emerged as the group winner, knocking off Iceland, 2-1, while Nigeria, who would have qualified with just a draw thanks to Iceland’s loss, could not hold off Argentina, who took a 1-0 lead in their match before the Nigerians tied, and then scored the decisive second goal. Argentina will advance as the group runner-up. As you plan your knockout round World Cup betting, take a look at our recap of each match.

2018 FIFA World Cup Betting Review Day 13

Group C: Peru 2, Australia 0

Los Incas had not scored a goal in a World Cup final match in 36 years, but it only took 18 minutes against Australia. Andre Carrillo took a cross and planted a volley just inside the far post. Australia could have qualified for the round of 16, had France beaten Denmark and Australia beaten Peru, but they could not even overcome Peru and took the additional humiliation of seeing Paolo Guerrero add a second goal for a Peruvian team that had not been able to score against Peru or Australia. The Socceroos even substituted the ageless Tim Cahill in, but it did not matter. Both teams now head home, with Australia hoping they can advance should they qualify in 2020, and with Peru exuberant as to the way their World Cup experience came to an end.

Group C: Denmark 0, France 0

A draw in this match seemed the likeliest outcome, as France would win the group either way, and Denmark would advance with a single point, so neither team pressed the action. Christian Eriksen had a couple of chances on either side of halftime, but they were snuffed out. France started Antoine Griezmann up front but did not have much energy on offense. Kylian Mbappe came on as a late substitute, but once again, this seemed like an opportunity for both teams to go through the motions and prepare for the round of 16.

Group D: Argentina 2, Nigeria 1

Lionel Messi finally broke through in this World Cup, opening the match’s scoring with his 100th goal in a World Cup and becoming the first player to score in a World Cup final in his teens, twenties and thirties. However, Victor Moses converted a spot kick in the second half, which looked like enough to earn the draw. However, Marcos Rojo delivered the game-winner in the 86th minute. This marked the second straight World Cup final in which Rojo would score a game-winning goal against Nigeria, and now Nigeria is 0-5 all time against Argentina in the World Cup — with each loss coming by a single goal. Argentina still has plenty of questions to answer going into the knockout round, but at least they made it through, which looked less than likely after the embarrassing rout at the hands of Croatia.

Group D: Croatia 2, Iceland 1

It took 90 minutes, but Croatia delivered a perfect nine-point performance in group play, as Ivan Perisic delivered the game-winner in the last minute of regulation to set up a round of 16 matchup against Denmark, as Argentina will take on France. Iceland had a number of solid chances but found themselves down 1-0 early in the second half. They converted a penalty in the 76th minute, but they could not hold off the Croatians late, and the Cinderella story of the nation with the smallest population in this World Cup, winners of their UEFA qualification group, has come to an end. Croatia, though, looks like an intriguing dark horse to make a deep run in the bracket.