Women's World Cup 3rd Place Game Bet: Sweden vs. France

Written by Jake Thompson
Friday, 15 July 2011 22:16

Let’s make predictions on the FIFA Women’s World Cup 3rd place game between France and Sweden.

Although most of the attention is pointed toward Sunday’s 2011 World Cup final between the USA and Japan, the 3rd game between Sweden and France is one you won’t want to miss out on.  The clash will be shown live at 11:00 AM EST on ESPN2, and currently the World Cup odds show that France is favored at +145 with Sweden at +155 and the draw in regulation time at +225.  We’ll take a look at how both countries are playing and let our readers know the best bet in this World Cup clash.

France’s 2011 Women’s World Cup run saw them take out Nigeria and Canada to open up the first stage before dropping a lopsided 2-4 loss to Germany that still allowed them to advance.  They beat England on penalty kicks in a 0-0 match in the quarter-finals before losing to Team USA in a 3-1 final score.  The big problem I’ve seen for the French team is their ability to generate goals despite a lop-sided edge in shots.  Although they’ve done a good job at generating offense and keeping control of the ball, the 2 losses they’ve amassed have me thinking that something isn’t quite right with the French squad.

Sweden’s journey to the Women’s World Cup 3rd place game saw them take out Columbia and North Korea before pulling a 2-1 upset over Team USA in the opening round.  A 3-1 victory over Australia got them to the quarter-finals where they fell to Japan 1-3 in the match that would have propelled them to the final.  Sweden hasn’t been nearly as efficient at generating offense and their inability to control the ball might well cost them against France.  Although the Swedish team has managed to score some goals, their shots at scoring just haven’t been there for much of the World Cup.

Although France has struggled to actually put the ball in the net, I think they’ll enjoy large leads in time of possession and shots on goal, and that will ultimately get them the win in regulation.  Sweden is no slouch, but they will struggle to get more than a handful of legitimate scoring chances here and you have to like the French at these quality odds.  Another option would be to take France at -125 odds if you think that overtime is a possibility; with the way the French have struggled to capitalize on chances, it might just be the right way to go.

Sweden 0

France 2