The best teams are built for a deep tournament run on soccer’s biggest stage.
Entering the quarterfinals, France has looked every bit the part as the favourite to lift the trophy at FanDuel.
Led by Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, and Michael Olise up front, France has cruised to five straight wins, leading the tournament with 14 goals.
Sure, Paraguay did a much better job than France’s previous opponents when it came to slowing down their high-powered attack.
However, France’s quarterfinal bid never appeared to be in danger, and Mbappe’s second-half penalty was the difference in a 1-0 win.
After outscoring its opponents by a combined 14-2 score through five wins, France is an obvious favourite again for today’s quarterfinal showdown versus Morocco.
In fact, at +310 to upset, Morocco has longer odds to advance than France does to win the tournament (+195) at FanDuel this morning.
As impressive as Morocco looked in its Round of 32 upset versus the Netherlands in penalties and again in a Round of 16 win over Canada, this is an entirely different challenge for the north African side.
Can Morocco shock the world with a win over France?
Let’s set the stage for today’s quarterfinal showdown and lock in a FanDuel Best Bet in this Morning Coffee column for Thursday July 9th, 2026.
France Remains Heavy Favourite To Win The Tournament Entering Quarterfinals
Four straight quarterfinal appearances.
A nearly perfect record in the knockout stages.
And the superstar who appears destined to eventually set the all-time tournament record for goals.
Yes, France has lived up to the hype as a true contender.
However, the Atlas Lions are playing with house money after advancing to the quarterfinals as a +5500 longshot to lift the trophy at FanDuel.
With all the pressure on France as the obvious favourite, can Morocco find the magic they need to flip the script?
It won’t get any easier without their top goal scorer.
As somebody who recommended a play on France to lift the trophy at +700, I’m still not willing to hedge my bets just yet.
Morocco is +310 to advance at FanDuel this morning.
The north African side is +500 to win in regulation.
As we have seen throughout this tournament, even when the favourites go down a goal – or even two in one case – they have remained the favourite to advance at FanDuel live for at least a brief period.
While Morocco managed to survive a tough test versus the Netherlands in penalties, they conceded several changes early on in their Round of 16 clash with Canada, and that match could have looked very different if the host nation had jumped out to an early 1-0 lead.
If Morocco gets off to another slow start versus France, there’s little doubt Les Bleus will make them pay for it.
France is widely considered the deepest team in the tournament, and their ability to attack in waves will be tough for Morocco to slow down.
After grinding through five matches including extra time versus the Netherlands, I’m curious to see how much Morocco has left in the tank versus France.
That’s especially true if they try to win, unlike Paraguay, which committed to a bunker approach that took everything they had to limit France to one goal.
While any team that has made it this far has upset potential, the fact that Morocco conceded as many chances as it did versus Canada makes me doubt their ability to slow down a heavyweight like France.
For my FanDuel Best Bets, I’ll lock in Mbappe anytime goal -120 and a builder Same Game Parlay with France to advance and over 1.5 total goals in regulation at -175.
I’ll also roll the dice on Mbappe first goal at +260.
In Morocco’s clash with Canada in the Round of 16, Jonathan David and Tani Oluwaseyi combined for five shots, including two on target, and a .60 expected goals.
Now Morocco must deal with Mbappe, Dembele, Olise leading a French attack that can score goals in bunches.
After being held to a penalty versus Paraguay, France’s attack should benefit from a little more room and a little less physicality versus Morocco.
France is more than capable of winning this match 2-0.
A bet on France to advance as the favourite and at least two goals in regulation seems like a reasonable outcome for this quarterfinal showdown.
With Mbappe leading the attack, I’m willing to bet his anytime goal and first goal props once again today.
Hopefully, we can sweep the board.
France has certainly looked the part as the favourite to win the tournament at FanDuel.
Then again, anything can happen on soccer’s biggest stage.
Have a great day, everyone!
