{"id":119557,"date":"2026-07-15T16:02:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/?p=119557"},"modified":"2026-07-15T16:07:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:07:01","slug":"world-cup-picks-england-edge-argentina-in-tense-semifinal-as-kane-leads-the-betting-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/soccer\/world-cup-picks-england-edge-argentina-in-tense-semifinal-as-kane-leads-the-betting-value\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup picks: England edge Argentina in tense semifinal as Kane leads the betting value"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":118912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[780],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"acf":{"brief_description":"Scaloni defends Argentina amid criticism while England offers value on the moneyline, with Kane and BTTS among the top betting plays","auto_update_sportal365":true,"property_type":["","run_ads","","","",""],"main_image":118913,"authors":false,"custom_author":"Mark Keast","type":"news","properties":{"ads_enabled":true,"adult_content":false,"important":false,"live":false},"live_url":"","type_of_redirect":"permanent","body":[{"acf_fc_layout":"editor_block","content":"<p>Incredible comments from Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni ahead of his team\u2019s World Cup semi-final today against England (3 p.m. EST, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Media critique has zeroed in on the defending World Cup champions&#8217; lack of dominance so far, suggesting they\u2019re fortunate to be where they are.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">\u201cThe team isn\u2019t playing as bad as people say. We must have done something right to reach this stage,\u201d he said yesterday, per ESPN. \u201cI\u2019m grateful to the players. They\u2019ve led us to three titles and now another semifinal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">That\u2019s exactly it. The World Cup had 48 teams out of the gate this time, each with its own set of unique strengths. It\u2019s no cakewalk to get this far. People read into the extra time needed to beat Cape Verde and Switzerland, and the dramatic rally down 2-0 to Egypt.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">The only good news is that the same critique is heading England\u2019s way, first and foremost from their manager, Thomas Tuchel. He\u2019s been public about his unhappiness with his team\u2019s performance against Norway in the quarterfinal.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Everyone has been talking about Jude Bellingham and less about Harry Kane over the past few days. Kane, though, is the best striker Argentina has faced in this World Cup.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">In <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"editor-link\" href=\"https:\/\/betway.com\/g\/en\/sports\/grp\/soccer\/world-cup-2026\/matches\"><u>World Cup betting<\/u><\/a> at Betway this morning, England is +162, Argentina +190, and a draw +187.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">I am going to take England to win (+162) because I think they found something as a team during their 3-2 Round 16 win over Mexico, in front of over 80,000 fans at the high-altitude Estadio Banorte. That\u2019s even though this is about as evenly matched a World Cup semifinal as you will find.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Under 2.5 Total Goals, looking at how tight the knockout games have been.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Kane +140 Anytime Goalscorer is another lean for the big game.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">And with elite attacking talent on both sides (Kane and Bellingham on the England side, with Lionel Messi, Juli\u00e1n \u00c1lvarez and Lautaro Mart\u00ednez on the Argentina side, I am also taking Both Teams to Score (Yes, +105). And what about Over 7.5 Total Corners (+100 at Betway)? These are two offence-first squads that will apply sustained pressure and plenty of crosses. I\u2019m liking the corner market for the game.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Odds for the Golden Boot are also interesting if you\u2019re looking to dip in there. Messi, with eight goals, is -138, followed by France\u2019s Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 at +162, also at eight goals, and now eliminated from the tournament after yesterday\u2019s semi-final loss to Spain.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Then there\u2019s Kane, with six goals (+1000) and Bellingham, also with six goals (+1600).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119557"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119558,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119557\/revisions\/119558"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}