Blake Krass gives his best bet, pick and prediction for Friday’s FIFA World Cup match between New Zealand and Belgium.
This is a massive match between New Zealand and Belgium, as is the other match in Group G between Egypt and Iran. Egypt is the only team that has gotten to that pivotal four-point threshold. Meanwhile, all three other teams in the group still have a chance to make it out of the group in tonight’s games. With a win, Belgium could still win the group, and those three points would at the very least get them to the knockout stage. Meanwhile, New Zealand needs a win in this match to get out of the group.
Here are the odds for the match:
Let’s dive into my favorite bet for this match.
This is a massive opportunity for New Zealand. The All Whites have a real chance to make history in this match. New Zealand has only made two World Cups in the nation’s history, and never made it out of the group stage. With a win against Belgium, they would get to four points, almost guaranteeing a spot in the knockout stage. While they are big underdogs, Belgium has not looked convincing at all in its first two matches. While New Zealand is vulnerable at the back, Chris Wood and Elijah Just are both massive goal-scoring threats that could steal three points if Belgium is sloppy again.
It has been a miserable tournament for Belgium so far. They have drawn both matches against Egypt and Iran. Belgium only scored one goal between the two matches, and that was an own goal by Egypt. To make matters worse, Belgium will be without one of its starting center-backs, Nathan Ngoy, after his red card against Iran. They could be vulnerable at the back against New Zealand’s dangerous attacking threats. Meanwhile, their aging attacking players like Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku do not look up to the task in this tournament. It will be difficult for Belgium to conjure the performance needed to get the win and guarantee a spot in the knockout stage.
My best bet for this match is on New Zealand to cover the spread of +1.5 goals. At odds of +165, this number is too high based on how Belgium has performed so far. Belgium might use its experience to scrape out a win, but it’s hard to see them clicking and all of a sudden scoring a couple of goals while also keeping a clean sheet. Belgium will struggle to keep New Zealand out of the back of the net, which would require them to score three goals to cover this spread. In a match where both teams will be pushing to win, I’ll back New Zealand to keep it close.
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