One more time to fight, Let's celebrate

Growing up, I remember past films ending with the words "The End," in some cases the screen would read "Fin."

While some would say this film has reached its climax, Sunday allows us 90 more minutes (or in Croatia's trends 120), to enjoy the bright green colors of the pitch and the vibrant shades of flags from diverse nations in the crowd. Sunday, in front of the universe, aficionadi of sport - not just futbol, but those that love a good war - will witness blood, sweat, and tears.

France: A 7-1 pre-tournament favorite, France comes into the final as arguably the best team in the competition from top to bottom and certainly the most expensive with over a $1.2 billion  payroll. Les Bleus have managed to win one title in their national team's history, and that came in 1998 on home soil. Current Manager Didier Deschamps captained the French over Brazil on July 12, 1998, to their first and only World Cup title.

Croatia: Some like to use the term Cinderella after being priced at 33-1; I tend to lean on the phrase, "A team of destiny."  Fighting for the 4,164,783 citizens back home, the hopes and aspirations lie on the foot of phenom Luka Modrić. A team that thrived on being disrespected by English pundits in the semifinal will take the pitch once again as underdogs.

Lights, camera ACTION

The world's most significant sporting event brings out the pocketbook of even the tightest character. For a unit of measure, soccer's other prominent event, the Champions League Final, receives about 6% more action in terms of wager size on the Final match compared to other games in the competition.

The World Cup sees a giant spike in numbers when it narrows down to the final. Figures indicate a 26% jump compared to other games during the month-long tournament. Also, the wager sizes are 17% larger than those that we see in the Champions League Final.

It's estimated that almost 80% of bettors in the World Cup final didn't wager on any other previous match in the tournament, showing us that even the most casual of fans like to get some money in on the last game.

As far as the teams involved, The difference in payouts is $10 million as the Champions will be receiving $38 million and the runner-up $28 million The payouts for the World Cup have seen a steady increase since 2002, where at that time the total payouts were $154 million. In 2018, an estimated $400 million will be paid out to the participating 32 countries.

England vs Belgium

England    +234 +.5   -132
Belgium    +121
Draw           +273
Over
Under       3 -119

3rd place winner
England    +140
Belgium   -155

Croatia vs France

Croatia   +409
France    -108 -.5 -108
Over
Under   2 -122

Champion
Croatia -185
France -210

Picks

France Regular time    MAX
France Champion 1 U
Kylian Mbappé Golden Ball 2U
Kylian Mbappé Scores goal   2U
Ngolo Kante  Golden Ball   1/2 Unit +2000
Halftime-Fulltime Draw/ France   +330 1U

The End

For any questions or comments reach me @JerryBoknowz on Twitter.