FIFA Men's World Cup

The Friendly Wager: Back France To Win; Superstars To Score

09 Jul 2026, 18:32 · FOX Sports

Sam Panayotovich
FOX Sports Betting Analyst

We’re onto Week 5 of the "Friendly Wager" and we’re fresh off the biggest hit of the World Cup for this column. Thanks to Argentina and Cape Verde’s regulation draw last Friday, we padded our pockets with a +715 winner.

Time flies when you’re having fun.

I’m also happy to confirm that with the USA’s exit against Belgium in the Round of 16, we won’t lose any more bets on Christian Pulisic. What an apathetic dud of a tournament from the "best American soccer player."

Yikes.

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Friendly Wager Record:
3-8, +3.95

France vs. Morocco

The mighty French are massive favorites here at -400, and that should surprise nobody.

Sportsbooks are jacking up the price on Kylian Mbappé to score, too. He’s as high as -135 in the market to light the lamp, and I’m just not interested at that price.

What’s even more insane is Mbappé is only 4/1 to score twice.

Lol.

I’m skipping past Mbappé in the goal market — famous last words — and circling French forward Ousmane Dembélé. FanDuel has him at +200 to score, which you can drive up higher by parlaying that with France to qualify for the next round.

DraftKings has +202, FanDuel has +241.

Always be shopping.

Sammy P's Picks: Ousmane Dembélé to Score and France to Advance (+241)

Norway vs. England

I cannot wait for this Saturday afternoon tilt.

Truth be told, I’m rooting for Norway because Erling Haaland completes me, and I’m also a sucker for the Viking Row after Norwegian wins. I just don’t know if Norway has enough ammo to get by Three Lions.

What’s clear to me is that Haaland is a scoring machine. In 54 career matches for Norway, he’s put the ball in the back of the net 62 times.

On the other hand, Harry Kane is one of the world’s most dangerous scorers. There’s not a game that goes by without him getting multiple high-level scoring chances.

Let’s wheel a Haaland goal with a Kane goal.

Sammy P's Picks: Both Erling Haaland and Harry Kane to Score (+353)

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