The city of Orlando has gone soccer crazy over the course of the last several years with Orlando City in the City Beautiful. The hope for the United States Men's National Team is that Orlando is going to be the deciding factor in the biggest match of the second Bruce Arena era to date. The Yanks play their last World Cup qualifier at home on Friday night against France.
This World Cup Qualifying duel will go down Saturday, October 7, 2017, at 2:45 p.m. ET at Vasil Levski National Stadium. The match will be televised live on FOX Sports 1.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Bulgaria +1100
France -450
Draw +475
Over/Under 3
Odds Analysis
France has sort of bumbled its way through World Cup qualifying with dumb mistake after dumb mistake against dumb teams sort of like this Bulgaria side. That said, with the pressure of qualifying for the World Cup with a match to spare potentially on the line, Les Bleus are set at -450 on the road here in Sofia to snare the maximum three points.
Bulgaria, a team that has a spotless 4-0-0 record at home in this qualifying campaign, is 11 to 1 to keep that mark going.
The total has to be on the high side due to the nature of this spread, and that's why it chimes in at a flat 3.
How They Got Here
France has had so many hiccups along the way, it isn't even funny. The team still sits atop Group F, and should it take care of business here against Bulgaria and at home against Belarus in the last match of the group next week, it will still get to the World Cup safely, and no one will remember the struggles.
That said, Les Bleus are under tremendous fire right now after drawing at home to Luxembourg in the last round of qualifying. That parlayed with the joke that was the end of the Sweden match on the road when the team coughed up a guaranteed 1-1 draw and turned it into a 2-1 defeat in the stoppage time has left the French just one point clear of the Swedes at the top of this group.
Bulgaria is still alive and kicking, and it's because of its form at home. The team is 4-0-0, including beating Sweden here at home, though it should be noted that this is also a club that is 0-0-4 on the road and has yet to pick up a point. Two wins in these last two matches is still that would keep Bulgaria on the road to Russia, though no one expects it to do so. That said, if the Bulgarians can win this one, they are at Luxembourg in what should be an easy last match of the bunch. Would 18 points by enough to qualify? Probably not. But a team can dream.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
The lack of major experience in matches like this is what concerns us most for Bulgaria. The team has just one man with more than 50 appearances for the national team, that being Ivelin Popov. Popov is also the only man who has scored more than five goals for his country on this roster.
Yet the lack of striking force for France and as well as the Bulgarians have been organized here at home will give the hosts a fighting chance in this match.
The French are horribly overstated here. Les Bleus are good, and they're going to be a threat in the World Cup, but just as they barely reached the World Cup four years ago, they're going to barely get there this year, too.
A draw really isn't a good enough result for either side, as it would eliminate Bulgaria and likely send France into second place with a match left to play.
World Cup Qualifying Odds: Bulgaria 1, France 1
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