Sports Blog 10/10/2016: Football Preview – 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Monday 11th October 2016

At least one European (sort of) giant from Group A is going to miss out on a place at the 2018 World Cup. Who can nab automatic qualification: France, the Netherlands or Sweden?

In the biggest of Monday’s international games the first 2 face each other in Amsterdam, at 7.45pm on ITV4. France couldn’t quite shake their Euros disappointment when they headed into their first qualifier against Belarus, coming away from the Borisov Arena with just one point following a goalless draw. However, with the new season fully underway France looked like a side transformed on Friday, walloping Bulgaria 4-1 in Paris. Goals from Euros-stars Dimitri Payet and Antoine Griezmann were joined by a brace from Atletico Madrid’s summer signing Kevin Gameiro, a relief given that the French were 1-0 down after 6 minutes thanks to a Mihail Aleksandrov penalty.



The Netherlands have had an almost identical start to their qualifying campaign, a campaign that has come at a time of great upheaval for the country. A young squad, and the departure of Marco van Basten, Dick Advocaat and Bert van Oostveen from key positions in the KNVB, combined with the fact the country failed to reach Euro 2016 AND are in the toughest World Cup qualifying group, has left Danny Blind with an uphill battle. And frustratingly an opening draw against Sweden wasn’t the fresh start people were hoping for. Yet, just like France, the Dutch found their groove on Friday, smashing Belarus 4-1 thanks to a brace from Spartak Moscow’s Quincy Promes and goals from Ajax’s Davy Klaassen and Tottenham’s Vincent Janssen.

The absence of old hands Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder, who have the kind of experience to guide this young Dutch side, perhaps gives the visitors the edge, with Spreadex offering a France/Netherlands (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.15-0.35 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.4-2.6.

While France and the Netherlands have hogged most of the Group A headlines, an Ibrahimovic-less Sweden will keen to prove their worth when they host Bulgaria at 7.45pm on Sky Sports 2. As mentioned, Sweden drew against the Netherlands in their first game, a decent result for the Blagult more so than the Dutch. Their next match against Luxembourg was arguably less convincing than that draw, however, the Swedes managing to sneak past the minnows with a paltry 1-0 victory.



Bulgaria, meanwhile, have barely had any time to pick up the pieces from their embarrassment at the hands of France. They did, however, steal a win against Luxembourg back in September, with Aleksandar Tonev’s 92nd minute strike cancelling out Florian Bohnert’s 91st minute equaliser in a 4-3 thriller. Petar Hubchev’s side will need that mettle if they are to get a result in Stockholm, Spreadex offering a Sweden/Bulgaria Goal Supremacy spread of 1.15-1.35 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.5-2.7.