Football betting tips: World Cup
1.5pts Morocco to qualify at 13/10 (bet365, Paddy Power)
0.5pt Morocco to win to nil at 5/1 (Sky Bet)
Netherlands vs Morocco
- Kick-off: Tuesday, 02:00 BST
- TV: ITV1
- Live odds, form and stats
There are several round-of-32 ties where the market seems to be far too heavily weighted towards a favourite, reacting too much to one or two group-stage results or performances.
The Netherlands' 4/7 price to qualify is far too short. In typically Dutch fashion Ronald Koeman's side scored 10 goals in Group F, with their 5-1 thrashing of Sweden in particular whipping up plenty of excitement.
Sweden not only scraped their way to this tournament - failing to win a qualifier then battling through the play-offs under new manager Graham Potter - but they are renowned for being wide open defensively.
The Netherlands then clinched top spot in the group with a 3-1 win over an already eliminated Tunisia team who sacked manager Sabri Lamouchi after matchday one, and conceded 12 goals across the group stage.
The 2-2 draw with Japan in their opening match is a better reflection of the level Koeman's men operate at.
MOROCCO, one place higher (sixth) than the Dutch in the FIFA world rankings, look even better than when they reached the semi-finals four years ago, a run that saw them beat all of Belgium, Spain and Portugal.
They are unbeaten in 32 matches in 90 minutes, with the only asterisks in that sample January's notorious AFCON final when they lost 1-0 in extra time to Senegal.
It makes little sense for the North African side to be such outsiders for this tie, with them unfortunate not to beat Brazil (1-1) in their opening game, before comfortably seeing off Scotland (1-0) and Haiti (4-2).
Falling behind twice against the latter has potentially caused some scepticism over their chances, but the prices still don't stack up.
At 13/10 TO QUALIFY they should be backed to do so.
I'm also prepared to take a swing at the 5/1 for MOROCCO TO WIN TO NIL in 90 minutes. Mohamed Ouahbi shut the game down in the second halves of their opening two matches, showing the Atlas Lions still very much have the side to their game that was the backbone of their shock run in 2018.
Odds correct 10:25 BST (29/06/26)
More World Cup content from Sporting Life
Group previews
- Group A: Mexico; South Africa; South Korea; Czechia
- Group B: Canada; Bosnia; Qatar; Switzerland
- Group C: Brazil; Morocco; Haiti; Scotland
- Group D: USA; Paraguay; Australia; Turkiye
- Group E: Germany; Curacao; Ivory Coast; Ecuador
- Group F: Netherlands; Japan; Sweden; Tunisia
- Group G: Belgium; Egypt; Iran; New Zealand
- Group H: Spain; Cape Verde; Saudi Arabia; Uruguay
- Group I: France; Senegal; Iraq; Norway
- Group J: Argentina; Algeria; Austria; Jordan
- Group K: Portugal; DR Congo; Uzbekistan; Colombia
- Group L: England; Croatia; Ghana; Panama
Outright previews
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