World Cup Picks | Best Bets For Zambia vs Japan, France vs Jamaica
Soccrates Images/Getty. Pictured: Aoba Fujino.
Coming into the weekend, multiple groups in the Women’s World Cup kick off their campaigns, with my focus coming in matches taking place in Group C and Group F.
The first prop that I like comes in Saturday’s opening fixture between Zambia and Japan, where I expect to see goals from both sides.
Meanwhile, my second pick comes in Sunday’s closer in which France should dominate lowly Jamaica.
The Action Network will be covering this summer’s tournament with our favorite props each day, and we continue with our picks for this weekend.
World Cup Picks – Zambia vs Japan & France vs Jamaica
Zambia vs Japan – Both Teams to Score (-144 via FanDuel)
On paper, this may not read as a match that would make you set your alarm for the early-morning kick, but this game has all of the makings to be one of the more entertaining matches of the group stage.
Starting first with Zambia, the African country qualified for its first-ever World Cup thanks to a run to the Africa Cup of Nations. They are led by striker Racheal Kundananji, who plays her club soccer in Spain, where she bagged 25 goals last season to finish second in the Golden Boot race.
Combining Kundananji with a weak defense, Zambia's friendly matches before this tournament against Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and South Korea all finished with both teams scoring and with an average of 5.75 combined goals per game.
As for the Asian side, Japan did surrender at least once in two of their three friendlies before the World Cup and in a pair of SheBelieves Cup matches earlier in the year.
This is also the same Japanese team that allowed four goals to England back in November 2022, so I don’t see this as a formidable defense by any means.
France vs Jamaica – France -5.75 Corners (-115 via DraftKings)
I expect the game above to be closer than the odds are suggesting. However, this match is going to be dominated by the French.
When there a team is favored by over 3.5 goals on the spread, I like to look at the corners props, which has been a profitable bet when France have blown out opponents.
Over the last two years, Les Bleues have covered this same spread on corners in 6-of-7 victories where they won by four or more goals.
This is also the same team that has earned more corner kicks than their opponent in six of the last 10 fixtures overall.
Meanwhile, the Jamaicans have just not been very competitive when they have stepped up to tougher competition, losing by three goals to both Australia and Spain in the Cup of Nations tournament.
These results followed heavy defeats to both Canada and the United States in the CONCACAF Women’s Championship last year.
The Reggae Girlz boast two players from the Women’s Super League in Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw and Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer. If Spencer can push out some shots for corners, we should be in great shape to cover this spread.
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