Blake Krass gives his best bet, pick and prediction for Friday\u2019s FIFA World Cup match between New Zealand and Belgium.<\/p>\n
Best Bet for New Zealand vs. Belgium<\/p>\n
New Zealand +1.5 Goals<\/a>: It has been a dreadful World Cup for Belgium. They drew their opening match against Egypt, with their only goal being an Egyptian own goal. They followed that up with a disjointed performance against Iran, which ended up in a 0-0 draw. So, Belgium is yet to score a goal that isn\u2019t an own goal in this tournament. It\u2019s difficult to trust them to then go out and win by multiple goals against New Zealand, especially when New Zealand is a threat to score itself.<\/p>\n This is a massive match between New Zealand and Belgium, as is the other match in Group G between Egypt and Iran. Egypt is the only team that has gotten to that pivotal four-point threshold. Meanwhile, all three other teams in the group still have a chance to make it out of the group in tonight\u2019s games. With a win, Belgium could still win the group, and those three points would at the very least get them to the knockout stage. Meanwhile, New Zealand needs a win in this match to get out of the group.<\/p>\n Here are the odds for the match:<\/p>\n Let\u2019s dive into my favorite bet for this match.<\/p>\n New Zealand vs. Belgium Prediction<\/p>\n New Zealand Preview<\/p>\n This is a massive opportunity for New Zealand. The All Whites have a real chance to make history in this match. New Zealand has only made two World Cups in the nation\u2019s history, and never made it out of the group stage. With a win against Belgium, they would get to four points, almost guaranteeing a spot in the knockout stage. While they are big underdogs, Belgium has not looked convincing at all in its first two matches. While New Zealand is vulnerable at the back, Chris Wood and Elijah Just are both massive goal-scoring threats that could steal three points if Belgium is sloppy again.<\/p>\n Belgium Preview<\/p>\n It has been a miserable tournament for Belgium so far. They have drawn both matches against Egypt and Iran. Belgium only scored one goal between the two matches, and that was an own goal by Egypt. To make matters worse, Belgium will be without one of its starting center-backs, Nathan Ngoy, after his red card against Iran. They could be vulnerable at the back against New Zealand\u2019s dangerous attacking threats. Meanwhile, their aging attacking players like Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku do not look up to the task in this tournament. It will be difficult for Belgium to conjure the performance needed to get the win and guarantee a spot in the knockout stage.<\/p>\n New Zealand vs. Belgium Pick<\/p>\n My best bet for this match is on New Zealand to cover the spread of +1.5 goals. At odds of +165, this number is too high based on how Belgium has performed so far. Belgium might use its experience to scrape out a win, but it\u2019s hard to see them clicking and all of a sudden scoring a couple of goals while also keeping a clean sheet. Belgium will struggle to keep New Zealand out of the back of the net, which would require them to score three goals to cover this spread. In a match where both teams will be pushing to win, I\u2019ll back New Zealand to keep it close.<\/p>\n Best Bet: <\/a>New Zealand +1.5 Goals (+165)<\/a><\/p>\n Additional World Cup Coverage<\/p>\n