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Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the penalty spot to give Spain the lead against France in the semi final and is such an important player for Luis de la Fuente’s side.

He’s Spain’s top scorer at the World Cup with five goals to his name across seven starts and has achieved this tally from 22 shots (3.65 per 90), 11 of which have found the target (1.82 per 90). 

I think he’ll be able to cause Argentina a lot of problems with his clever movement and has crucially delivered on the big stage before having scored the winner against England in the final of the 2024 European Championships. 

Pau Cubarsi has had a phenomenal tournament and would probably be one of the contenders for the Golden Ball if Spain were to lift the trophy.

Cubarsi and Laporte have been a solid partnership for Spain at this World Cup, conceding just one goal all tournament - but the high line Spain play does occasionally leave both a bit vulnerable in moments of transition.

Cubarsi is used to playing in a high line having done so regularly for Barcelona during the most recent domestic campaign, though still has to make tactical fouls at times to protect the space that Spain leave in behind.

Spain should feel emboldened to push up quite high as Argentina don’t have a lot of space in forward areas, but I think Cubarsi will be sucked into a battle with Lionel Messi at times here.

Messi has won 16 fouls across his 6 starts at the World Cup (2.32 per 90) and was fouled twice against England last time out. 

Enzo Fernandez scored a crucial equaliser from distance against England for Argentina last time out, one of four shots he took in total - all of which came from outside of the box.

It felt as though Fernandez was getting his range in with the previous efforts before eventually finding a way through to the back of the net. 

Upon closer inspection Pickford probably should have done better to keep it out, but the volume of efforts is promising when looking to back Fernandez for a single shot here.

He started in quite a deep role for his country but has since moved up into a more advanced position, operating a little closer to Messi and his striking partner.

Fernandez has taken 12 shots across his six starts overall at the World Cup, working out to an average of 1.89 shots per 90.

Both of these sides have registered decent corner counts throughout the tournament, with Argentina’s average sitting at 8.15 corners per game while Spain have seen 8.43 corners per game.

Argentina racked up six corners and scored following a short corner against England last time out. They’ve won 5.29 corners per game, winning 6+ corners in 71% of their matches at this World Cup.

Spain’s semi final against France produced exactly eight corners, and probably should have had a few more if Spain hadn’t taken an early lead. They’ve won 6.43 corners per game at this World Cup, also seeing 6+ corners in 71% of their games.

These are two sides who have reached the World Cup final through very different circumstances and Spain look the best placed to win the trophy from this position.

It’s hard to look past the dominance of Spain, they’ve won six of their seven matches and haven’t trailed for a single second across these games. 

They’ve only conceded one goal at the tournament, also conceding an xG of just 2.15 across the seven games. 

They’ve had to beat Portugal, Belgium and France in the latter stages of the tournament too while Argentina have been very fortunate in their victories, facing adversity in almost every round but still finding a way to get through.

William Saliba's early exit against Spain brought Maxence Lacroix into the game at centre back, and the Crystal Palace man looks set to start again here against England.

Lacroix finished that match with two fouls, despite missing the start. He repeated that feat in his only other start in the competition, recording two infringements against Norway in the final group stage match. 

Didier Deschamps likes his centre-backs to be aggressive in their duels and step forward to try and win the ball back quickly, rather than sitting back and absorbing pressure. Lacroix will have plenty of familiarity with the English attackers in the Premier League, so he will know just how difficult they can be to contain.

Ivan Toney could make his first start of the World Cup here, and he will certainly keep Lacroix busy.

Kouadio Kone only featured for the second half against Spain in the previous round, but he still managed to draw one foul in that cameo.

Prior to that, he landed this selection in both the Croatia and Morocco knockout matches, where he was fouled exactly twice in both of those games. Kone has been one of the most consistent players in the French squad when it comes to drawing fouls, and he is averaging 2.5 fouls drawn per 90 since the conclusion of Euro 2024. 

Playing for Roma, Kone averaged 1.83 fouls drawn per 90 in the 25/26 season, which shows how adept he is at using his body to absorb pressure and buy soft free-kicks.

England can be quite aggressive in their press in midfield areas, with the likes of Elliot Anderson and Jude Bellingham, making this a good matchup for Kone.

Nico O'Reilly's domestic numbers are not as impressive when it comes to drawing fouls, averaging just 0.53 fouls drawn per 90 across all competitions for Man City, but he has been a lot more consistent at the World Cup.

In fact, O’Reilly has been fouled in four of his five starts, and there is a chance that he starts in midfield here to replace Declan Rice. 

O’Reilly didn’t start against Spain last time out, but prior to that he was fouled in all three of England’s knockout matches. France are averaging 10.0 fouls per game at the World Cup, which isn’t particularly high, but this price of 1.67 for O’Reilly to be fouled looks too big, especially if he does feature centrally.

Nico O'Reilly looks set to start for England here, either at fullback to replace Reece James, or potentially in midfield in place of Declan Rice.

The Man City man has registered a shot in four of his five starts at the tournament, averaging 1.36 shots per 90. Only one of those efforts has hit the target so far, but that figure significantly understates his usual accuracy.

At club level, O'Reilly also averaged 1.36 shots per 90, with 49% of those attempts hitting the target. He strikes the ball cleanly from distance and carries a threat from set-piece situations as well, which means there are multiple ways he can clear this line.

He has a knack for popping up in dangerous positions in the box, and will hope to find success going forward against France in search of his first senior England goal.

Desire Doue has only started three times for France at the World Cup so far, but he has been incredibly active in the final third when called upon.

He is averaging 3.31 shots per 90 - only Kylian Mbappe boasts a higher figure for Les Bleus. Doue also had a very similar average of 3.35 shots per 90 for PSG in the 25/26 campaign across all competitions, which shows how he excels at working a yard for himself to let fly. 

With this being a third-place playoff, there isn’t much on the line for either side. Didier Deschamps might be more willing to give his fringe players a start, and he will want them to play with freedom in the final third. This looks like a decent matchup to target Doue.

Josh Rock is a phenomenal 180 hitter and this is a game that could go quite deep.

Rock is only a marginal favourite to win (1.73) and Woodhouse has been on good form on the Pro Tour this year, actually sitting top in the order of merit.

Rock reached the semi final of the World Matchplay last year and is still searching for that first big major win that many believe he is capable of given his talent. 

He’s averaging 0.35 180s per leg over the last year and I would expect this game to have at least 16 legs given the form of Woodhouse over recent months which would give Rock 5.6 180s if he matched his output over the last 12 months on the maximum count.

Luke Littler is quite simply the best 180 hitter in darts, and statistically the most likely player to hit maximums that we’ve ever seen in the sport.

Littler really enjoys these longer format matches, but it doesn’t always go to plan for him in the early stages of the tournament. 

Most players know that the only time you’re really going to be able to stop Littler is to catch him out in these early rounds because he only gets stronger as the tournament goes on - so there is a slight chance that Springer makes more of a game of this than the odds suggest. 

Littler steamrolled his way to winning the World Matchplay last year, unsurprisingly hitting more 180s than any other player. 

He’s averaging 0.43 180s per leg over the last year, which is just obscene for this level and pressure. This rate actually increases slightly when you look at his performances in major tournaments to just shy of 0.50 180s per leg. 

Nathan Aspinall is one of my favourite darts players, though bias aside he should have enough to come out on top in this one against a player in Joe Cullen who has been on the decline for some time.

Aspinall has been putting the work in on the Pro Tour and Euro Tour to try and get back amongst the elite after missing out on a place in the Premier League for the most recent campaign. 

He has won the Matchplay before, winning the trophy back in 2023 and will be looking to get back close to those levels here.

Aspinall has won 11 of his 17 lifetime matches against Joe Cullen (64.71%), including the most recent meeting between the pair last year which Aspinall managed to win 6-1.

This is a real banana skin for Stephen Bunting against a player who has improved steadily over the last year and has reached the quarter finals or further in three Euro Tours this year, going on to the semi finals on two occasions.

Now these Euro Tour events are a bit diluted as the top players don’t really compete in them anymore to try and manage their busy schedules, but it still shows decent consistency from Zonneveld who also reached the Last 32 of the World Championships towards the end of last year.

I can see this being a bit of an awkward game for Bunting, but he crucially does have a big finish in him to carry him over the line. These two have played twice this year, with Bunting winning both games narrowly 6-5 and 6-4. 

Bunting very rarely is able to steamroll opponents in the early stages of these big major tournaments, so I can see Zonneveld just sticking with him throughout this one and forcing a big checkout from the bullet - something which happened the last time these two met.

Another factor with Bunting is how rehearsed he can be at the back end of legs. He likes setting up 100 and 121 finishes in particular, as well as utilising the bull -  which is something to keep an eye on.

Olise finished the 25/26 domestic season with 22 goals and 26 assists from 52 appearances for Bayern Munich across all competitions.

Those numbers are incredibly impressive, and it worked out to a goal involvement every 68 minutes. At the World Cup for France, he hasn’t managed to find the back of the net just yet, but his output has remained high. Olise has recorded five assists, which is more than any other player in the competition. 

You could argue he is also overdue a goal, as he has been quite unlucky up until this point not to find the back of the net. Olise has taken a total of 17 shots, of which five have hit the target, and he has hit the woodwork twice.

Anderson has been a consistent presence in England's midfield throughout the tournament, and he has started all seven matches so far.

His shot output has dropped in the knockout rounds, but England’s approach here will hopefully be a lot less cautious, despite it being a tough matchup.

France are great when it comes to limiting clear-cut chances for their opponents, but they can often leave space on their edge of the box for opposing midfielders to shoot from range. 

Anderson should be given license to get forward a bit more here, and he has shown that he doesn’t hesitate to let fly when the space opens up. He had four shots against Ghana in the group stages.

Maxence Lacroix was brought on after Saliba's early exit against Spain, and he finished the match with two fouls to his name.

He was handed his first World Cup start against Norway in the group stages, and he again accounted for two of France’s eleven fouls, and was fortunate to escape a caution in the end. 

Didier Deschamps likes his centre backs to be aggressive in their fuels - Dayot Upamecano has committed a foul in six out of seven matches at the World Cup, while Saliba recorded four fouls in his three knockout starts prior to the semi-final. Lacroix will have a tough matchup against the England forwards here, which makes this price stand out.

On the opposite side, Dan Burn could be handed his first World Cup start by Thomas Tuchel here if the German manager opts for some changes.

The Newcastle centre-back committed one foul against Argentina in the semi final, despite only being introduced for the final eight minutes. 

He had an average of 1.54 fouls per 90 for Newcastle in the 25/26 Premier League campaign, which translated to ten yellow cards and a red.


He had one of the worst disciplinary records in the entire division, which shows just how aggressive he tends to be in his challenges. He is likely to be up against Mbappe here, and that looks like a serious mismatch.

This clash between France and England is a third place play-off with very little on the line for either side, which means both teams should release the handbrake a bit and play with freedom. Even if there is rotation, there will still be plenty of attacking talent on show, which makes goals a target. 

England have been an entertaining side to watch at the World Cup so far, and BTTS has landed in all four of their knockout matches. Chances have typically been available at both ends of the field, and their only clean sheets have come against Panama and Ghana. However, the Three Lions have been strong in the final third, and they will be confident of at least finding the back of the net here.

Kylian Mbappe was kept unusually quiet against Spain in the semi-final, managing just three shots with none hitting the target, but that performance was an outlier.

Up until that point, the Real Madrid man had been devastating in the final third, scoring eight goals from six appearances to sit joint-top of the Golden Boot charts with Lionel Messi.

Mbappe will want to start this game, knowing that another goal gives him the chance to claim the outright Golden Boot for the second consecutive World Cup.

He is averaging 4.71 shots per 90 at the World Cup so far, which is comfortably the highest figure in the French squad, and he notably started against Norway in the final group stage game, despite Les Bleus being mathematically secured of progression.

For England, Jude Bellingham has been the standout performer, and it was his excellent performances in the knockouts which got the Three Lions to where they are. He bagged a brace against Senegal, before following that up with another two goals against Norway in the quarter-finals, taking his tally to six goals at the World Cup. 

He was left frustrated against Argentina, but England struggled in that match, and sat deep after taking the lead. They managed just five shots as a team, and should play with a lot more attacking intent against France here. Bellingham is averaging 2.53 shots per 90 at the World Cup so far, and he tends to be accurate with his efforts, recording a shot on target in five of his seven starts so far.

Both of these sides have registered decent corner counts throughout the tournament, with Argentina’s average sitting at 8.15 corners per game while Spain have seen 8.43 corners per game.

Argentina racked up six corners and scored following a short corner against England last time out. They’ve won 5.29 corners per game, winning 6+ corners in 71% of their matches at this World Cup.

Spain’s semi final against France produced exactly eight corners, and probably should have had a few more if Spain hadn’t taken an early lead. They’ve won 6.43 corners per game at this World Cup, also seeing 6+ corners in 71% of their games.

Reece James suffered another injury setback against Argentina, so he is unlikely to feature here, which means Nico O'Reilly could return to his fullback position.

It’s uncertain who will start on the right wing for France, but Ousmane Dembele has typically occupied that position throughout the tournament, while Michael Olise also usually drifts wide. O’Reilly looks set to have his hands full defensively here. 

O'Reilly had an average of 1.49 fouls per 90 across all competitions for Man City in the 25/26 season, which was one of the highest figures in Pep Guardiola’s squad. Considering how adept Man City are at retaining possession, that is quite a notable figure. He likes to get stuck into duels, which bodes well for this selection.

Thriving since making his return to turf in May, BADRI (9.3) has won three of his five appearances and given his latest performance over a further 6f here at Pontefract, another bold bid looks on the cards. 

Landing a double over 6f over June and July, Badri clearly enjoys himself at Pontefract, and although he is stepping down in trip today, he’s no stranger to 5f and has five wins to his name over the minimum trip,  with his latest win coming at Redcar in May.  

Putting on an impressive display earlier this month, Badri made all the running when drawing clear in the final furlong to land an unchallenged 4 ½ length victory, and although he is racing off 4lb higher on his return, 5lb claimer Conor Whiteley more than offsets this rise, and the hat-trick looks on the cards given his performances of late.

Making a winning return to turf last week after a promising second at Southwell on the all-weather, ALFA  WHITEBURD (8.7) made the most of his lower turf mark with a dominant performance and looks set to follow up today. 

Scoring at Chester by an impressive eight lengths, the five-year-old made all the running and never saw another rival. Securing his first win on turf, we are likely to see more to come from Alfa Whiteburd, and his 5lb penalty doesn’t look enough to stop another dominant performance. 

Racing in a small six-runner contest today, where his opponents are struggling to string together any consistent form, and although Dorney Lake won last time out, he has a tendency to start his races slowly, which won’t do him any favours up against the front-running and inform Alfa Whiteburd. Due to go up another 7lb in future races, today presents a real opportunity for Alfa Whiteburd to land another win before going back up in the weights.

The World Matchplay starts on Saturday at the famous Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

Luke Littler is the favourite to win the trophy, building on his victory in the tournament last year.

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