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Ousmane Dembele showed flashes of brilliance against Senegal last time out, and this angle would have landed via Super Sub in that game with Bradley Barcola coming on to score. 

I quite like this dynamic with France in general. The depth they have in forward areas means that even if one of the starting attackers doesn’t quite manage to deliver, you still have a decent chance of a winner through one of the replacements, who are just as talented. 

Dembele enjoyed another strong season for PSG during the 25/26 campaign, netting 22 goals across all competitions. Eight of these goals came across 11 starts in the Champions League, showing that he can deliver at the very top level. 

His record for France should be a lot better for a player of his talent, with seven goals across 60 caps, but it seems like Didier Deschamps likes Dembele in quite a central role, which could improve this output for his country over the course of the tournament.

Merchas Doski picked up more cards than any other Iraq player during qualifying (three), and will have a tough personal assignment against Michael Olise in this clash.

Olise was fouled twice in France’s opener against Senegal and averaged 2.32 fouls won per 90 across his five starts during qualifying for France, showing that he’s a very tough player to stop. 

I can see Olise having quite a few 1v1 battles with Doski, who was fouled four times in Iraq’s 4-1 defeat to Norway last time out - further showing that he enjoys being in these duels and may also be one to watch to win a few fouls in this encounter.

I’ve come to this selection pretty regularly throughout the tournament, and I think it’s an angle that’s a good option in a bet builder for games that are expected to be one-sided.

Iraq didn’t show much fear in their 4-1 defeat to Norway last time out; they pushed forward pretty regularly and managed 11 shots, one of which found the target. It only takes one moment for this leg to land; it could come from a speculative effort, which feels likely given Iraq’s willingness to get forward against Norway.

Mike Maignan is a solid goalkeeper and should be able to deal with the firepower of the Iraqi frontline. He was called into action two times against Senegal and averaged 0.60 saves per game for France during qualifying. 

Aymen Hussein is the main reason that Iraq are at this World Cup. He scored eight goals across 13 starts during qualifying, taking 28 shots across those matches (2.24 per 90). 

He followed up his impressive displays for Iraq during qualifying by scoring Iraq’s first ever goal at a World Cup as they lost 4-1 to Norway, taking three of the 11 attempts that Iraq had in the game overall.

I think he can cause a few problems for this French backline, who are likely to push up very high, leaving space for Ali Al Hamadi and Hussein to get shots away.

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Declan Rice is going to be a very important player for England if they are to go deep in this tournament, mainly due to his role on set pieces for the Three Lions.

Rice was priced as high as 1.91 to create 2+ shots in England’s opening game, he’s now dropped down to 1.2 for that outcome after creating four chances and registering an assist against Croatia last time out.

Rice set up four goals across seven starts for England during qualifying, so Tuchel has been nurturing Rice in this role for some time and chas learly been working on set piece situations, to the point where England look like scoring every time they win a corner.

I took this angle pretty regularly with Semenyo during the 25/26 campaign, mainly when he was at Bournemouth, as he’s quite prolific in front of goal - but also doesn’t shy away from challenges, making him a good option for a caution.

Semenyo scored 17 goals and picked up seven yellow cards during the 25/26 campaign.

I think he could easily get frustrated here against an England side that will dominate the ball, and his expected direct opponents in Reece James (1.01 fouls won per 90) and Noni Madueke (1.11 fouls won per 90) will not make it an easy assignment for the winger.

This is another angle I took for England’s opener, and I’m still willing to back it at this price, given the threat Nico O’Reilly carries in the final third for England, which he’s demonstrated over the last year for Manchester City as well.

Tuchel wants O’Reilly in the box as an extra body. Kane sometimes drops quite deep, encouraging Bellingham to push up into a more advanced role - but O’Reilly is also instructed to get into the box to act as an extra threat when deliveries come in from Madueke or James from the opposite side.

O’Reilly managed a shot on target in the opener from a corner, which is another avenue where his effort could come from. Ghana will set quite deep, so I expect England to fire in quite a few crosses, and O’Reilly should be on hand to benefit.

Caleb Yirenkyi was shown a card in Ghana’s opener against Panama and will have a very tough assignment up against Elliot Anderson and Jude Bellingham in the middle of the park.

Yirenkyi plays his club football for Nordsjaelland and featured regularly throughout the 25/26 campaign. He committed 48 fouls across 30 starts (1.65 per 90), suggesting that the talent in England’s midfield is bound to cause him problems.

Anderson and Bellingham drew three fouls between them in England’s opener, with the Three Lions drawing 12 fouls from Croatia overall. During qualifying, the duo combined to win 4.49 fouls per 90 - so Yirenkyi and the rest of the Ghanaian midfield will have quite a lot of work to get through in central areas.

France were a bit flat in the first half but came out in the second period really strongly, which is mainly credit to Didier Deschamps. He tweaked the tactical structure at half time, which allowed France to unlock a stubborn Senegal side and eventually come away as 3-1 winners with Mbappe scoring twice.

It’s obvious that this is the best stage for Mbappe, that double made him France’s all time top scorer and also extended his record of being really effective at World Cups, having won the Golden Boot in 2022 and scored four goals back in 2018 as France lifted the trophy. There’s a clear quality gap between these two sides, and it’s hard to see how France don't run away with this game.

I’d be quite surprised to see Iraq score, Norway played them off the park and France are a far superior side to the other European representative in this group, so it should be a pretty one-sided affair. Iraq have never won a game at the World Cup, and I don’t think this will be the fixture that delivers them those three points they’ve been searching for.

Ismaila Sarr looked really bright in Senegal’s opener against France and really should have scored from one of his three efforts in the clash.

This selection would have landed via Super Sub in that game as Ibrahim Mbaye came on for Sarr in the 75th minute and managed to find the back of the net, which shows the depth that Senegal have in forward areas.

Sarr’s confidence shouldn’t be too dented from being wasteful in the opening match, having scored 21 goals for Crystal Palace across all competitions during the 25/26 campaign. 

That’s his best ever return in a single season at club level, and is supported by a pretty decent record for Senegal with 19 goals across 73 caps.

Erling Haaland caused real havoc against Iraq, managing five shots overall, with three finding the target and two the net.

Haaland was in sensational form for Norway during qualifying with 16 goals across just eight starts from a wider shot output of 41 attempts (5.21 per 90). 

That’s a monstrous shot total at international level, and he tends to be pretty accurate with those efforts too - seeing 28 of them find the target (3.57 per 90). 

Haaland has scored 57 goals across just 51 caps for Norway, so he’s in a league of his own when it comes to goalscoring on the international stage, and I expect him to live up to the averages he set during qualifying here.

Norway won comfortably against Iraq, but a side with superior attacking quality probably would have made the game a bit more of a contest, seeing as Stale Solbakken’s side allowed Iraq to have 11 shots and also end up on the scoresheet. 

Nyland plays in goal for Norway and was pretty reliable during qualifying, keeping four clean sheets across five starts with an average of 2.12 saves per 90. He maintained a save percentage of 77.3% and ended the qualifying run with an xG prevented tally of 1.12.

Nyland didn’t feature much for his club side, Sevilla, during the 25/26 campaign, but did start 30 games the season prior and was tested 2.49 times per 90. Senegal have attacking threats to force this level of activity from Nyland, particularly through their front three of Sadio Mane, Nicolas Jackson and Ismaila Sarr.

Both sides saw over 1.5 goals in their opening matches, and I can also see this being a high-scoring game, mainly because of what it means for Senegal.

Senegal have to at least get a point here to stay in the tournament; a heavy defeat would likely spell the end of their campaign, which would be a real disappointment given some of the attention they were receiving before a ball was kicked.

Senegal have seen 2+ goals in four of their last five international matches and allowed the game to be stretched in the final stages against France. I can see something similar happening here, especially if the scoreline is tight.

Senegal managed to get a consolation goal against France in the final stages of their opening game and should be able to find the back of the net here in a must-not-lose game for the African side.

Norway didn’t look completely protected in moments of transition, with their backline easily being the weakest part of their squad. I can see both sides getting joy in attacking areas, especially Senegal against a Norway side that have only kept one clean sheet across their last eight international matches.

Senegal need a positive result here to take into their game against Iraq on the final matchday of the group. I think they’ll be able to get that, or at the very least, end up on the scoresheet. 

Mbappe grew into the game in France’s opener against Senegal, netting twice to secure the victory from four shots - all of which managed to find the target. 

I think Didier Deschamps will rotate slightly for this game, but Mbappe should still get the nod to lead the line, given his incredible record in front of goal at the World Cup. The two goals he scored against Senegal took his tally at the competition to 14 goals across three tournaments.

Mbappe should get multiple chances here, Erling Haaland netted twice in Norway’s 4-1 win over Iraq in their opening game, so the quality of this France side should shine through in this clash.

Bradley Barcola is a player I really like. I think he would be talked about amongst the elite more often if he was a bit more clinical with his efforts, but he did manage to get on the scoresheet in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal, and I think he looked slightly better than Desire Doue down that side of the pitch for France.

Barcola only started three games during qualifying, but did manage to get on the scoresheet across those appearances as well as manage five shots (2.07 per 90). A better sample size for Barcola is his performances for PSG during the 25/26 campaign, he managed 31 shots on target across his 21 starts (1.59 per 90) from a wider shot average of 3.45 efforts per 90. 

He also maintained an average of 1.00 shots on target per 90 across his 12 starts in the Champions League, so he is more than capable of performing at this level, and I expect him to get chances against an Iraq side that conceded five shots on target against Norway last time out.

Rabiot committed a foul in France’s win over Senegal and is actually quite an important player in this French side, even if he doesn’t quite have the quality of some of the stars around him.

Rabiot acts as a physical presence in the France midfield whose main instruction is to keep France solid against transitions. This puts him in a pretty good position to commit fouls, especially against an Iraq side that showed they are not afraid to get forward on the counter-attack against Norway, winning 13 fouls and drawing two fouls from Norway’s midfield trio. 

Rabiot maintained an average of 1.24 fouls committed per 90 across his 28 starts for AC Milan in Serie A during the 25/26 campaign and also committed five fouls across his five starts for France at the last Euros (1.20 per 90). 

Iraq committed 12 fouls and collected one yellow card in their opener against Norway and I think they’ll struggle to contain the front four of this French side, who are all pretty capable when it comes to winning fouls. 

Iraq picked up at least one card in 85% of their qualifying matches, so picking up 2+ cards here doesn’t feel that far away when considering the step up in quality between Iraq’s opponents during qualifying and the players France will field here. 

France drew 1.50 cards per game from their opponents during qualifying and drew nine fouls from Senegal in their opening game. The referee for this game is Drew Fischer, who averaged 4.73 cards per game across his 11 appointments in MLS last season. 

France won exactly six corners in their opener against Senegal and should have even more dominance when it comes to winning corners against an Iraq side that conceded five corners against Norway in their opening game.

France have a lot of players who are very talented in 1v1 duels. This specialism should allow them to rack up the corner count as most of their attacks will come down the wide channels, with Iraq looking to shut down central areas and keep things tight. 

France averaged 6.84 corners per game during qualifying, winning 6+ corners in 67% of their matches. Iraq conceded 3.40 corners per game during qualifying, but again, the difference in quality should lead to France registering at least six corners here.