First and foremost, happy Fourth of July to all Americans, especially the sports fans. This year’s freedom celebration happens to coincide with two major sporting events, the FIFA World Cup and UFC 329.
With the World Cup being played in the United States and the UFC fresh off an event at the White House, we figured we could take a quick break from basketball and do something a little more exciting.
As it so happens, some of my closest friends are also avid sports fans and staunch supporters of Barfield Sports. Who could have guessed? So for this week’s article we are going to let them predict both upcoming events. Here’s what they had to say.
Who wins the World Cup?
Josiah Piper: “Argentina is going to have a very easy path to the final and I’ll say they will probably be playing France. We’re going to have a rematch of the 2022 World Cup and Messi is going to win his second World Cup.”
Seth Ballou: “I’ve got a team that’s never taken home the cup before. I think a team that could make a run is… Mexico. The furthest they have been is the quarterfinals, and I could see them upsetting England on Sunday night. It’s a sport that means a lot to that country, so I think they’ll be locked in.”
Barfield Sports prediction: These two men know much more about soccer than me. From my extremely limited soccer knowledge, I am picking USA to win it all. I’m still feeling good from the 4th of July.
Who wins the Golden Boot?
I told each one they would get their own category where their prediction was the sole prediction and the only one that mattered. For the Golden Boot winner, it was Mr. Ballou who made the call.
Seth Ballou: “You know, Will, I’ve got a sleeper pick. He’s probably +50,000 odds right now. Give me Harry Kane for the Golden Boot. England’s finest coming off a two goal game and playing Mexico tonight. I could see him racking up a couple more and let’s see what happens after that.”
I am still not sure if Seth realized his Golden Boot pick directly contradicted his World Cup winner pick. Let’s just not tell him.
Penalties or not?
This category was solely Josiah’s to make the prediction for. I asked him whether he thought the World Cup Final game would end in regulation or in penalty kicks.
Josiah Piper: “I think it will end in penalties and let me tell you why. Most finals are played very conservative and I think this one is going to be the exact same. We’re going to go to extra time and no one is going to score because they are being conservative. It’s going to go to penalties and Messi will slot his and Mbappe will slot his. Ultimately, it will come down to the fifth penalty.”
UFC 329 Main Event picks
All three of us are huge UFC fans and so we all had something to say about the upcoming UFC 329 which features a co-main event of Benoit Saint Denis v. Paddy Pimblett and Conor McGregor v. Max Holloway.
Josiah Piper: “Coming into this one I honestly have no idea what to expect, especially from McGregor, but it has been a lot of fun watching him all these years. I’ll say he gets one more win and then retires afterward.”
Seth Ballou: “I expect Patty the Baddy to bounce back after going down to Gaethje earlier this year. As for the McGregor fight, I think Conor will lose in ultimate fashion. I think you’ve got a guy trying to cash grab one more big fight before he rides off into the sunset. I think Holloway will dominate.”
Barfield Sports prediction: I think Pimblett is still recovering from his fight with Justin Gaethje. We saw what he just did to Ilia last month and I think he hit Pimblett just as hard in January. Saint Denis has won four fights in a row, all by finish. I’m going to ride the hot hand and current favorite. As for McGregor, I think he wins this fight. This prediction is solely based on how he has looked in recent videos. If he is in true, peak form, he can hang with anybody.
Bonus: Barfield Sports Best Bets
World Cup Sunday:
- Both teams to score (BTTS) Brazil vs Norway
- Mexico vs England – MEXICO to qualify
World Cup Monday:
- USA vs Belgium – USA to advance
- BTTS – Spain vs Portugal
UFC 329:
- Two leg parlay: Saint Denis ML and McGregor ML (+356 odds, $10 wins $35.75)
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