The third of four quarter final fixtures at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will see Australia take on France at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday night. The host nation has wrapped their arms around their beloved Matildas who continue to create history on the world stage, and the atmosphere at this blockbuster quarter final matchup is sure to be electric.
We preview Saturday night’s Australia vs France matchup below with our Women's World Cup betting tips for the contest. Good luck to everyone following!
2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Betting Tips
Australia vs France
Saturday 5pm AEST, August 12th, Suncorp Stadium (Brisbane)
Australia and France played each other an exhibition match in the leadup to the Women’s World Cup, with the tournament’s co-hosts winning 1-0. Stakes are just a tad higher this time around as these two top 10 ranked nations lock horns in the quarter finals. This upcoming battle is an absolute must-watch and viewership records in Australia are expected to be broken as a result.
Australia
Possible Lineup: Arnold — Carpenter, Hunt, Kennedy, Catley — Raso, Gorry, Cooney-Cross, Foord — Fowler, Kerr
After a shaky start to the World Cup for the co-hosts, Australia have well and truly found their feet in the tournament. They proved to be far too good for Denmark in their Round of 16 tie in a matchup that many pundits saw as a 50-50. The Australians made a number of clear-cut chances throughout the 90 minutes and were able to capitalise on two of them to finish up with a 2-0 win and progress to the quarter finals at a World Cup for the first time in their history.
There have been a number of standout players for the Matildas, particularly over their last two performances which have seen them net six goals and conceded none. Hayley Raso has been in deadly form on the right wing and Caitlin Foord equally so on the left, while young gun Mary Fowler has had moments of brilliance playing in the middle of attack.
The biggest dilemma the Matildas face ahead of the quarter finals is who makes way for superstar striker Sam Kerr in the starting XI. There have been a couple of pundits in the leadup arguing the ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ expression in terms of selection, but most purists recognise that if a player of Kerr’s quality is available, she simply starts and someone has to make way. And as good as she’s been, I believe it’s most likely that Emily van Egmond is the unlucky one who gets relegated to the bench.
France
Possible Lineup: Peyraud-Magnin — Perisset, Renard, De Almeida, Karchaoui — Dali, Geyoro, Toletti, Bacha — Le Sommer, Diani
France headed into their Round of 16 matchup with surprise packet Morocco as the overwhelming favourites and it took them just 15 minutes to show us why, with Kadidiatou Diani breaking the deadlock with a phenomenal team goal. Fast forward just eight minutes and the French found themselves up 3-0 and with a quarter final spot all but secured.
Les Bleus ended up 4-0 winners against Morocco who were the lowest ranked team that made it to the last 16 (#72). Eugenie Le Sommer bagged two goals in their Round of 16 win and now has three in total for the tournament. She’s the nation’s all-time top international scorer with 92 goals to her name from 182 caps.
France has now scored 10 goals in their last two games in the tournament and 12 in total, but it’s fair to say there will be a sharp rise in the level of their opposition in the quarter finals, considering three of their four matches have been against nations ranked outside the top 40.
Match Prediction
Ranked #5 in the world, France are the third-highest ranked team left in the tournament, while Australia are the sixth-highest at #10. And while there are just five spots separating these teams in the rankings, there’s nothing separating them in the all-time head-to-head count which is currently tied at 2-2. However, Australia had the edge in their only meeting in the past four years, winning 1-0 in a friendly less than a month ago, which will give them some level of confidence heading into their upcoming meeting.
Furthermore, the level of opponents these teams have played in the two matches leading into this quarterfinal clash are vastly different. France have played nations ranked #52 and #72 in the world, while Australia have played nations ranked #7 and #13. It doesn’t matter what elite level sport it is, playing and beating the best teams breeds confidence and prepares you much better for high-pressure matches compared to beating up on minnows.
With all things considered, I believe the battle-hardened Matildas are fantastic value to get the job done in front of an electric home crowd on Saturday night. I’ll be splitting my bets between the ‘Win (in regular time)’ and ‘To Qualify’ markets, both of which seem over the odds.
Also Backing: Australia to Win (regular time) - $3.75 (0.5 Units) at UniBet
Australia to Qualify
$2.30 (1.5 Units)
