Argentina vs Sweden Odds, Pick | Women’s World Cup Preview
Xinhua News Agency/Getty. Pictured: Stina Blackstenius.
Argentina vs Sweden Odds
| Argentina Odds | +450 |
| Sweden Odds | -154 |
| Draw | +280 |
| Over/Under | 2.5 (-106 / -118) |
| Both Teams to Score (Yes/No) | (-120 / -120) |
| Odds via bet365. Get up-to-the-minute World Cup odds here. | |
Sweden have already clinched their spot in the round of 16, likely against the USWNT.
Meanwhile, Argentina's hopes are diminutively alive for the knockout rounds after a comeback draw with South Africa.
Read on for my analysis of the two teams, as well as my pick and prediction for Argentina vs Sweden.
Argentina Must Find a Miracle to Advance
Argentina just about saved themselves from World Cup elimination against South Africa, managing an improbable comeback from two goals down within a span of five minutes. But they couldn’t manage the win, and Argentina now sit with just one point at the bottom of Group G.
Sophia Braun and Romina Nunez provided their World Cup savers, both grabbing their first international goals. They are not technically eliminated from making the knockout round from a statistical perspective, and they will now face Sweden, who have qualified through with two wins in their first two matches.
Argentina are a side that have been relatively steady in 2023, beating New Zealand twice back in February, while also outscoring opponents 15 to 4 in friendlies this year. They had a tough go against Italy and couldn’t manage to find their scoring, but they managed to swing momentum near the end of their game against South Africa.
The two teams were pretty evenly matched, managing the same number of shots, and Argentina had just one more shot on target (5). La Albiceleste were better this go around at maintaining possession, holding it 61% of the time and making 493 passes at 75% accuracy. To contrast, South Africa had 319 passes at 64% accuracy.
In order to have a chance against Sweden, however, Argentina will need to be on their A-game. They’ll want to replicate dominating possession – which could be difficult – and even then that won’t guarantee them anything. Finding their scorers will be key, and they’ll want to do so early.
Sweden May Ease Off Gas Pedal With Free Fixture
Sweden presented major problems for Italy, despite holding possession just 46% of the time and attempting less passes than the Italians. But they were more efficient, managing 21 shots (seven of which were on target) and completing 76% of their passes to Italy’s 75%.
One area in which Sweden will need to get tighter is in their fouls. They committed 16 to Italy’s one, and while they managed to escape without any yellow or red cards, they’ll want to be careful not to lose any players in the next game to a card.
Sweden were ruthless in picking apart Italy, but South Africa did expose some of this team’s vulnerabilities. Against some of the world’s top teams earlier this year, they drew Germany (who just lost their first group stage game since 1995), lost to Denmark and drew Norway. So, while Sweden hold the ability to be a difficult opponent, they also can run cold.
The last two times that they’ve scored four-plus goals, they’ve followed up with either no goals scored or two or less goals scored. They’ll want to avoid such a trend against Argentina, as they’ve proven that they may find themselves down in a game but are never out.
More than likely, Sweden will want to rest their best players for the knockout rounds. It’s not something many teams have been awarded, and it could result in a closer scoreline.
Argentina vs Sweden Pick
Argentina could pose a problem for Sweden, who are looking to follow up a third-place finish at the 2019 World Cup. Sweden can play their B-team to rest players for the knockout rounds, and they should. It would set them up well to run up against a USWNT team that has not had much roster rotation through the group stage.
I expect Sweden to come out swinging early and get some goals, but do so without overtiring or risking injury to players. Argentina may get one or two goals back, but ultimately the Swedes should prevail in this one.
The Pick: Sweden 2 – Argentina 1 (Sweden ML, -154 via bet365)
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