Majority Picking France and England for final

[Satofan44]

But the last time Argentina met with England in the World Cup competition was in 2002, a group stage match, and England won that game 1-0. In 1998 both teams played a 2-2 draw; Argentina won in a penalty shootout, whereas in 1986 Argentina won against England in full time, where Diego Maradona scored the goal he tagged “The Hand of God”
How do you see this poll, and where do you take sides?

Looking at past events what happened in cases like this is completely pointless, many users do this wrongly. This is not two players with 1 versus 1 matches that have clashed many times over a couple of years. The outcome in 1986 has nothing to do with the outcome of 1998, or that of 2002. They are completely different teams, times, strategies, so even bringing it up at all is a complete waste of time -- you can't derive any knowledge from that. I, like many other people, would like to see such an outcome -- the shenanigans of FIFA and Argentina's cheating over the year is just making the competition completely boring. Whoever is excited about competitions riddled with cheating is an idiot. 

In my view, this prediction is accurate because the vote is actually based on the toughest team that is believed to win in this semi final but personally I do know and I believe that the team that is underestimated can do exceptionally well, especially when it's about who will stand in the final match. I'd like to based my prediction against the trend or public opinion, so I would like to see Argentina play against Spain but we wait for the outcome.

This is literally always the case, so what is the use of stating it especially in way that makes it seems that the belief is somehow tied to you? Nothing is guaranteed in any of these matches, regardless of expectations but if you focus on the ability of the under performer to surprise then you can't make any kind of forecasts.

[Odusko]

Well, this thread would be more interesting with a poll... It would be interesting to compare those results with the forum poll. Are we on the same page, or would we have different predictions...

Well said because, we using an independent index to carry out forum poll for which among the listed make it to the finals it will be an interesting and a first hand results from us here in this forum.

In any case, let's say the majority backs France to beat Spain and England to beat Argentina. So the question is... is it time to follow the public, or bet against the public? We had many threads about it, but the moment we plan to stake some money, it's hard to make a decision...

Sure the time we follow our own decisions when betting on this is very important because for me, both France and England is not my choice for the world cup final, can't we have Spain and England at least that will give us a fresh vibes for the finals, .

[Sandra_hakeem]

It's odd to begin to compare their previous meetings, as far back as 1986? C'mon, Maradona is dead and we don't even have any single player in that team today, so their previous meetings don't matter. Even if it did, the outcome might still differ, we cannot tell. Like I have said already in other threads with similar discussion, I'd like to see France lift the trophy, but if FIFA wants to operate with their internal plan, that's left for them to decide.

You can't neglect history no matter how long it's, wether it's during Maradona era or now history lives.

So, did you create this thread to discuss history or the present future of this competition? And don't even say the former, because the topic talks about what the majority picks for the 2026 WC, not the past. How do you guys make these type of analysis and expect it to fly? Meanwhile, the highest any former elite player for the group can do for them (depending on what position he played in) is instruct them on how to hold down possession, from the best of their experiences.

The world cup is not a joke. Again, unless FIFA wants to intervene for one particular club to win, France look pretty much indestructible to me.

[Satofan44]

It's odd to begin to compare their previous meetings, as far back as 1986? C'mon, Maradona is dead and we don't even have any single player in that team today, so their previous meetings don't matter. Even if it did, the outcome might still differ, we cannot tell. Like I have said already in other threads with similar discussion, I'd like to see France lift the trophy, but if FIFA wants to operate with their internal plan, that's left for them to decide.

You can't neglect history no matter how long it's, wether it's during Maradona era or now history lives.

So, did you create this thread to discuss history or the present future of this competition? And don't even say the former, because the topic talks about what the majority picks for the 2026 WC, not the past. How do you guys make these type of analysis and expect it to fly? Meanwhile, the highest any former elite player for the group can do for them (depending on what position he played in) is instruct them on how to hold down possession, from the best of their experiences.

Only idiots make a historical analysis of encounters that happen so infrequently when in fact they have zero impact on the current match. One side could have won 10 times in the past, so all of the encounters but that is useless if now they have a completely shit team and the other side has the best team by far. The games happen so infrequently that it makes no sense at all to bring historical data into this, and as I said many plebs here do this kind of thing thinking that they are smart when they are just being delusional idiots.

The world cup is not a joke. Again, unless FIFA wants to intervene for one particular club to win, France look pretty much indestructible to me.

Well, while we do not have the evidence to establish favoritism on the level of the institution we have seen countless cases of bad decisions that look like rigging in favor of the side of Argentina. These kinds of decisions happen in all kinds of matches, but one party has received a bit too high number of decisions in their favor. We will see what happens next, at least the theories of Ronaldo vs. Messi have proven to be nonsense. Ronaldo is shit now and definitely did not deserve to be in the finals.

[348Judah]

Some will go for Spain and Argentina while some are in for England and France, but we only have the confidence that either of them will emerge a winner, we only have to see how they can play to show the potential they have in taking the cup home, this year world cup has been so interesting and full of fun together with suspense because those you even expected might go far didn't at the start, choosing for the winner among this four countries is somehow difficult because the all have the best of all it takes in order for them to win.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

I would love to see Spain vs England in the final, something new for a change. Argentina vs France we had last time so let's keep things fresh.
Unfortunately it never comes as you hope for so seeing France facing Argentine in the final is still the most likely scenario. I totally get though that many people want to see England in the final, for obvious reasons. Argentina is playing dirty and gets the ref decisions they need every single time, that's so annoying,
When even the Germans are tooting for England to beat them it says a lot.  

[DPHOR]

Honestly game like this is difficult for people to be predictable because you won't know how the game would run, of course if you looked into their past history you would see that there are lot of changes which may not go as people will be looking at it.
I believe this was on predictions market ( polymarket or kalshi ) because this type of pool are usually being created on prediction market for people to know and place their bet on whom the finals.

[GiftedMAN]

I also prefer France and England to be in the finals because I want a different experience from the 2022 world cup finals. However, if you also consider how Argentina struggles to qualify to the next round, it's possible that their strength might not match that of the English men.

Both Argentina and England has what it takes to win each other and I think the semifinals will determine if Argentina will be in the finals or not. Two big matches in the semifinals will be like the finals.

France against England in the finals will definitely be a very big competition because we have witnessed Argentina against France where it was a show between Messi and Mbappe. France can defeat Spain to advance to the finals but it depends on the outcome of the game between Argentina and England. Messi is there to help Argentina to beat England but for England to defeat them it has to be a fight against England and Messi, referee and FIFA cause from ny own observation Argentina has enjoyed some kind of preferential treatment in the competition more than any team.

[Accardo]

I would love to see Spain vs England in the final, something new for a change. Argentina vs France we had last time so let's keep things fresh.
Unfortunately it never comes as you hope for so seeing France facing Argentine in the final is still the most likely scenario. I totally get though that many people want to see England in the final, for obvious reasons. Argentina is playing dirty and gets the ref decisions they need every single time, that's so annoying,
When even the Germans are tooting for England to beat them it says a lot.  

Pulling off Argentina in the Semi finals is unlikely going to happen with the English teams, but seeing them in the Finals is a dream for non Argentine football lovers, who wouldn't want to see the nation go to the finals again, likely to play France. Seeing a match like Spain vs England will be an outstanding game for the world of football, a fresh and new finals is something everyone wants to watch.

[ralle14]

I'd also choose the same teams to advance because France is one of the few teams that consistently close out their matches in regulation time, and while Spain does the same, I don't know if their defense would still thrive against one of the best offensive teams.

As for the other match, it makes sense why we'd pick England over Argentina if you've been keeping up with their playoff run. 2/3 of Argentina's opponents in the knockout stage have taken them to extra time, and these teams are outside of the top 10, so what more against a well-rounded team like England?

Either way, it's not as easy as it looks compared to the previous matches, and anything can still happen with how Spain beat France in their last two meetings.

[Russlenat]

Honestly game like this is difficult for people to be predictable because you won't know how the game would run, of course if you looked into their past history you would see that there are lot of changes which may not go as people will be looking at it.
I believe this was on predictions market ( polymarket or kalshi ) because this type of pool are usually being created on prediction market for people to know and place their bet on whom the finals.

But based on the betting odds available. https://nypost.com/2026/07/12/betting/2026-world-cup-semifinal-odds-argentina-is-a-longshot-to-repeat-as-champion/

France has emerged as the favorite by a significant margin with +150 odds to win the World Cup ahead of Spain and England, who are both listed at +333 at bet365 sportsbook. Argentina has the longest odds among the top four teams with a +400 price tag entering the semis.

France is the most favorite to win it all.

So its not surprising that people will choose France, but those who back England, at +333 , i think that is a good value..
After all, not all heavy favorites win, things could be different in the finals.

[Sandra_hakeem]

Only idiots make a historical analysis of encounters that happen so infrequently when in fact they have zero impact on the current match. One side could have won 10 times in the past, so all of the encounters but that is useless if now they have a completely shit team and the other side has the best team by far. The games happen so infrequently that it makes no sense at all to bring historical data into this, and as I said many plebs here do this kind of thing thinking that they are smart when they are just being delusional idiots.

Honestly, I've been trying to think--- don't these other commenters read the entire thread before making blind affirmations to whatever OP says? Bro was talking about the 'hand of god' in 2026, when infact, the technological advancement of today would have disqualified that goal. Bet he doesn't even know how that term came about.

The world cup is not a joke. Again, unless FIFA wants to intervene for one particular club to win, France look pretty much indestructible to me.

Well, while we do not have the evidence to establish favoritism on the level of the institution we have seen countless cases of bad decisions that look like rigging in favor of the side of Argentina.[/quote] Haven't we seen enough? They don't count as evidence, just because nobody has been exposed openly. Well, FIFA can't expose any part of their governing bodies, so there's that.

At least the theories of Ronaldo vs. Messi have proven to be nonsense. Ronaldo is shit now and definitely did not deserve to be in the finals.

The two are great players, but the hype kept them on the spotlight for that long!

[KTChampions]

I would love to see Spain vs England in the final, something new for a change. Argentina vs France we had last time so let's keep things fresh.
Unfortunately it never comes as you hope for so seeing France facing Argentine in the final is still the most likely scenario. I totally get though that many people want to see England in the final, for obvious reasons. Argentina is playing dirty and gets the ref decisions they need every single time, that's so annoying,
When even the Germans are tooting for England to beat them it says a lot.  

We recently saw Spain vs. England in the European Championship final 
I agree about Argentina, it's quite ironic how they turned the whole world against them, being the favorite of FIFA and the referees is clearly not the legacy that every team wants to leave behind. But England are favourites against Argentina, and there is hope that we will see a European final, with or without France.

[Africolo]

This prediction actually caught my eye, seeing the number of people already voting for France and England to go through the final stage just a few minutes after the poll was dropped. To me, it's a bit difficult to pick one out of these 4 teams, but I think that France actually stands out; England did very well in their last game.

But the last time Argentina met with England in the World Cup competition was in 2002, a group stage match, and England won that game 1-0. In 1998 both teams played a 2-2 draw; Argentina won in a penalty shootout, whereas in 1986 Argentina won against England in full time, where Diego Maradona scored the goal he tagged “The Hand of God”
How do you see this poll, and where do you take sides?

The four teams have been impressive with an outstanding performances so far and that's why they are in the last stages to the final but with the news about FIFA helping Argentina and Messi has made so many people hate them which is not fair but we are entitled to our opinions though .

And from my own prediction since I routed for Brazil to win the world cup and they have been eliminated my support now goes to the England team and I want them to lift the trophy this time around because they haven't won it. It's not difficult to pick from the form teams, just choose your favorite and that's all. People keep saying FIFA rigs winning in favor of Argentina I don't think that's very true from the high level of performance from the Argentine team and we should let go of sentiments and enjoy the beautiful game of football. I'm fully supporting France and England for the final and England will win the trophy.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

This prediction actually caught my eye, seeing the number of people already voting for France and England to go through the final stage just a few minutes after the poll was dropped. To me, it's a bit difficult to pick one out of these 4 teams, but I think that France actually stands out; England did very well in their last game.

But the last time Argentina met with England in the World Cup competition was in 2002, a group stage match, and England won that game 1-0. In 1998 both teams played a 2-2 draw; Argentina won in a penalty shootout, whereas in 1986 Argentina won against England in full time, where Diego Maradona scored the goal he tagged “The Hand of God”
How do you see this poll, and where do you take sides?

I don't know what site is it that you took the screenshot you shared here from, but if I have to opportunity to vote or even bet, I would mind voting or betting the very same thing, I sincerely want to see either England or Spain play the final against France and not Argentina.
Reason being that Argentina already won the world Cup in the last world Cup that was played in 2022, I want to see a different team/nation win it this time and I think there is no other country more deserving than either of the three I mentioned - France, Spain or England, Argentina should go home and rest..

But on the other hand, I was discussing this semi finals with a brother of mine yesterday and he was of the opinion that Spain will best France, and Argentina will beat England, so his prediction was that it's Spain verse Argentina that are going to play the finals and that Argentina will beat Spain to win the world again, I disagreed with him but I actually fear for things not to end up just as he predicted it would, I won't be happy sincerely speaking.

[POPOLUV]

This prediction actually caught my eye, seeing the number of people already voting for France and England to go through the final stage just a few minutes after the poll was dropped. To me, it's a bit difficult to pick one out of these 4 teams, but I think that France actually stands out; England did very well in their last game.

But the last time Argentina met with England in the World Cup competition was in 2002, a group stage match, and England won that game 1-0. In 1998 both teams played a 2-2 draw; Argentina won in a penalty shootout, whereas in 1986 Argentina won against England in full time, where Diego Maradona scored the goal he tagged “The Hand of God”
How do you see this poll, and where do you take sides?

Every gamblers is in titled to his own opinions when it comes to football predictions or any other predictions, so I'm not that surprised to see the voting in favor of France and England to be playing the final of the FIFA world cup tournament 2026, although if I'm opportune to vote, i will still vote for France and England for final. In the game of soccer it is believe that anything can happen before end of the 90 minutes of the game, so with the previous records with England vs Argentina anything can still happen and likewise France vs Spain.

[Cryptomultiplier]

This prediction actually caught my eye, seeing the number of people already voting for France and England to go through the final stage just a few minutes after the poll was dropped. To me, it's a bit difficult to pick one out of these 4 teams, but I think that France actually stands out; England did very well in their last game.

But the last time Argentina met with England in the World Cup competition was in 2002, a group stage match, and England won that game 1-0. In 1998 both teams played a 2-2 draw; Argentina won in a penalty shootout, whereas in 1986 Argentina won against England in full time, where Diego Maradona scored the goal he tagged “The Hand of God”
How do you see this poll, and where do you take sides?

I don't know what site is it that you took the screenshot you shared here from, but if I have to opportunity to vote or even bet, I would mind voting or betting the very same thing, I sincerely want to see either England or Spain play the final against France and not Argentina.
Reason being that Argentina already won the world Cup in the last world Cup that was played in 2022, I want to see a different team/nation win it this time and I think there is no other country more deserving than either of the three I mentioned - France, Spain or England, Argentina should go home and rest..

But on the other hand, I was discussing this semi finals with a brother of mine yesterday and he was of the opinion that Spain will best France, and Argentina will beat England, so his prediction was that it's Spain verse Argentina that are going to play the finals and that Argentina will beat Spain to win the world again, I disagreed with him but I actually fear for things not to end up just as he predicted it would, I won't be happy sincerely speaking.

If you disagree with your brother on his opinion, I know you would certainly disagree with me when I say I see France vs Argentina in the finals in this world cup.
I don't know where I got the hunch from but there's a huge favoritism in the game already and it leans towards Argentina and Messi in particular who is marking this as his last world cup appearance before retiring from football.

[Agbamoni]

France against England in the finals will definitely be a very big competition because we have witnessed Argentina against France where it was a show between Messi and Mbappe. France can defeat Spain to advance to the finals but it depends on the outcome of the game between Argentina and England. Messi is there to help Argentina to beat England but for England to defeat them it has to be a fight against England and Messi, referee and FIFA cause from ny own observation Argentina has enjoyed some kind of preferential treatment in the competition more than any team.

Either two pairs of finals you want to see, both will be interesting to watch. The team that wins the semi-final is arguably the best team from that side of the table. None of these teams will make it to the final and not put effort into winning it. For me, I'll say it's one game at a time. First, these teams need to win their opponent before thinking of how they will win the final. Finals come with a lot of pressure. Argentina and France are the two teams who have players that has experinced a World Cup final in a long time. If France goes to the final, they will emerge as the winner, and so on for Argentina.

[Moreno233]

Most of the people betting on England are probably doing that because of their hatred for Argentina and probably Messi. I cannot commit a big money on such emotional bets unless I see that the stats supports that. I feel that Argentina have stand a better chance to win the match, they have a better team than England and they do not joke with goal opportunities unlike England whose goals aspiration is built around Harry Kane. Jude Bellingham saved them the last time else the match would have gone against them. France may win Spain, that bet is valid and low risk one too.

[Porfirii]

Most of the people betting on England are probably doing that because of their hatred for Argentina and probably Messi. I cannot commit a big money on such emotional bets unless I see that the stats supports that. I feel that Argentina have stand a better chance to win the match, they have a better team than England and they do not joke with goal opportunities unlike England whose goals aspiration is built around Harry Kane. Jude Bellingham saved them the last time else the match would have gone against them. France may win Spain, that bet is valid and low risk one too.

When you talk about stats, I think that you underestimate the fact that in a single match the chances of the unforeseen happening are very high. You can reproach me for betting more emotionally when I say I go for Spain and Argentina, but talking about low risk in matches of this level at this point of the World Cup doesn't seem realistic to me either.

We are not talking about leaders against bottom teams, we are talking about 90 minutes in which a little more or less accuracy, an injury or a decision by the referee can mean a completely different result than expected.