World Cup 2014: Impressive French come into the reckoning

France have been one of the few teams to play well twice

With the second round of games completed, Jonathan Wilson takes another look at how the tournament is unfolding, reflecting that few of the leading teams have performed well in both games - with the honourable exception of France...

The most striking aspect of the second round of games at the World Cup was how poor a number of teams who had begun brightly looked. Brazil, the Netherlands, Italy, Argentina, and Germany all struggled in their second matches and, while there are seven sides on six points, the sense is that after the elimination of Spain, this is an extremely open tournament.

Brazil, of course, remain the favourites at 4.77/2. Their 0-0 draw against Mexico could be read in two ways. On the one hand they did create a number of chances and would have own but for the excellence of Guillermo Ochoa in the Mexico goal; Luiz Felipe Scolari's claim that they'd played better than in their opening victory over Croatia wasn't entirely without foundation.

On the other, Fred had a dismal game - Brazil's sensitivity to his lack of form seen in Dani Alves's mystifying attack on Alan Shearer for pointing out how badly Fred had played - and the general irritation on the part of Scolari and Brazil's players to criticism suggested just how much they are feeling the pressure.

Italy's struggles against Costa Rica were more of a surprise, given how intelligently they had dealt with England. There was something startlingly nave about the way they kept looking for long balls over the top and kept being caught offside. Perhaps playing back to back games in the worst of the heat and humidity in Manaus and Recife offers some explanation of mental fatigue, but they now face a real struggle to stay in the competition against a resurgent Uruguay.

Germany's tournament has been weirdly madcap. Vicente del Bosque always spoke about "control" as being the key to Spain's success, but that's the last thing that Germany have. Their game against Portugal was wildly open before the Pepe red card tipped things decisively Germany's way. The Ghana match followed that pattern: thrilling attacking play accompanied by shambolic defending.

Shifting Philipp Lahm back to right back might help, but the reason he has been used in central midfield is that Germany suffer a dearth of true defensive players in that position. Unless they suddenly conjure a solidity that has been absent since they ditched their reactive approach after the last World Cup, it's hard to see them as potential champions at 5.59/2.

Argentina and the Netherlands did at least go on to win their second games, but neither convinced. The Dutch, trading at 13.5n/a, were surprisingly open against a limited, if game, Australia and although their attacking prowess and character are admirable, their defence needs significant strengthening if they are to stand a serious chance of winning the title.

Argentina's case is a little different. The Bosnia game seems to have persuaded Alejandro Sabella that the 4-3-3 is the way to go, but it ran into problems against the resolute defending of Iran. Few other teams will be quite so defensive as Iran were, though, and the fact is that when they most needed it, for the second game in a row, Lionel Messi produced a moment of magic to decide the game. That bodes well for 5.59/2 ranked Argentina: fluency, surely, will come as Gonzalo Higuain recovers his fitness.

Of the other sides to have won two out of two, France, now into 9.28/1, have been the most impressive, racking in nine goals, although they weren't seriously tested in either game. Colombia (30.029/1) have probably been the most impressive, playing with great pace and vitality. The absence of Radamel Falcao hasn't hurt them yet, although it's hard to believe they won't eventually suffer for not having a better finisher than Teo Gutierrez.

Chile (20.019/1), after their stutter against Australia, were hugely impressive against Spain, and the biggest obstacle to their progress may be themselves: they habitually seem to lose belief against the more illustrious South American teams, which could be a major issue if they face Brazil in the last 16.

Costa Rica, of course, have also won two out of two but, excellent as they have been, their defend-and-counter tactics will surely be found out at some point. Belgium equally have six points, but have been desperately ordinary thus far.

With Brazil drifting slightly from a low of 3.814/5 to 4.77/2, now might be the time to back them, given the almost certainty of them beating Cameroon and a - relatively - simple route to the semis.

Then again, if Germany slip up and failed to top their group, France's passage would be as easy as they could have dreamt of, and they look worth a trade at 9.28/1.

Recommended Bets
Back Brazil at 4.77/2
Back France at 9.28/1 (back-to-lay)