The second half of the last-16 bracket at the 2022 FIFA World Cup sees the likes of Brazil, Croatia, Spain, and Portugal attempt to live up to their tags as favourites.
Facing them on December 5 and 6 are surprise entrants to the last-16 in the form of Japan, Morocco, and the Korea Republic, as well as a Swiss side that had to battle hard to escape Group G.
Here’s a look at the best odds for these World Cup last-16 matches.
World Cup Last-16 Best Odds
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Morocco vs Spain: Morocco +2 (Spread) -250
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Portugal vs Switzerland: Cristiano Ronaldo to Score Anytime +150
Read on for previews and odds for these upcoming FIFA World Cup games.
Morocco vs Spain
The results may not have been as flashy, but Morocco is certainly one of the surprise packages of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, winning a group that featured Belgium, Croatia, and Canada without losing.
Technically, Morocco is yet to allow an opponent to score against them at the tournament, with the only attempt to get past the stout defence chalked up as an own goal against Canada.
The Atlas Lions have been superb defensively and clinical in attack. Hakim Ziyech has been a threat whenever he’s on the ball, and set pieces have been particularly well crafted.
Spain enjoyed the best start to the tournament of any team, obliterating Costa Rica 7-0 to get the campaign underway. They then had to fight like crazy to hold a wounded Germany to 1-1 in the second game.
In the last game, La Furia Roja were essentially through bar massive wins from Germany and their opponents, Japan. However, head coach Luis Enrique still put out a strong side, so the loss will raise questions.
Coming into the December 6 fixture, Spain is deceptively favoured at -175 to win in regular time, but if the African side gets a foothold early, it’ll be worth tracking the live betting to see which way the odds swing.
This will be a very tough game for the young Spaniards, and while the team is undoubtedly talented, Morocco is playing very well and in a way that even the most talented attacking sides would struggle to unpick.
A cagey first half can be expected, with the odds in the half-time, full-time markets at +310 for a tie and then Spain to win and +1050 for a half-time tie and then Morocco to win.
To qualify, Spain is all the way in at -400, but it’d seem foolish to expect them to blow Morocco out of the water, so Morocco +2 on the spread at -250 will have its suitors.
أشرف حكيمي رجل المقابلة ما بين المنتخب الوطني و المنتخب الكندي 🇨🇦
— Équipe du Maroc (@EnMaroc) December 1, 2022
Ladies and Gentlemen, @AchrafHakimi Player of the Match between Morocco and Canada 👏#DimaMaghrib 🇲🇦 #TeamMorocco #FIFAWorldCup @pumafootball pic.twitter.com/GtnwJO7qXb
Portugal vs Switzerland
The last game of the 2022 World Cup’s round of 16 sees Portugal take on Switzerland. Prior to the start of the tournament, this fixture will have been the call for many, with the Swiss the narrow second-favourites in Group G.
Switzerland did as expected to escape the group, losing to Brazil but beating Cameroon and Serbia. That said, the Nati certainly made hard work of it in the final game against their fellow Europeans.
In the incredibly heated matchup, Serbia looked a threat to the very end, but timely goals from Xherdan Shaqiri, Breel Embolo, and Remo Freuler ensured that Serbia only had the lead for nine minutes.
Portugal dominated Ghana until they finally broke through with a questionable penalty just past the hour-mark in the first game, but they had to find a second wind when the African side started to mount a comeback out of nowhere.
With the 3-2 win in the books, Portugal easily got past Uruguay with an assured 2-0 victory and then rested several players with qualification secured.
The 2-1 loss to the Korea Republic after going ahead five minutes in won’t be a crushing loss, but it certainly didn’t showcase a particularly good performance from squad players or the team’s talisman.
Portugal is favoured to beat the Swiss and has odds of +225 for -1 on the spread and +240 to score in both halves.
Another storyline running through Portugal vs Switzerland is if Cristiano Ronaldo will score to equal Eusébio’s nine-goal record at the World Cup.
His headed effort against Uruguay was given to Bruno Fernandes, with it ruled as not actually touching Ronaldo. Out for the record, he’s at +150 to score anytime and, poetically, +660 to score a header that counts.
🫂🇵🇹❤️@B_Fernandes8 🔗 @Cristiano #VesteABandeira #WearTheFlag #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/ba1yXq0sOx
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) November 28, 2022
Prior to the World Cup, these four fixtures would have had four clear favourites, but the valiant efforts of the likes of Japan and Morocco have made this a particularly enticing slate of games.
*Credit for all images in this article belongs to AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 1st December 2022
