World Cup 2022: Odds, Updated Predictions for Sunday Round of 16 Matches

The final two games of the round of 16 in the 2022 World Cup take place Sunday, with defending champions France looking to get closer to becoming the first team in six decades to win back-to-back titles.

Their showdown with Poland kicks off the day's action before all eyes turn to the electric offense of England and their showdown with underdog Senegal.

On the surface, the outcomes of the matches appear to be relatively predictable, but who might fans expect to see advance to the quarterfinals and who do the oddsmakers think will move one step closer to vying for the most coveted prize in international play?

Find out with this preview and prediction for Sunday's action.

Odds
France vs. Poland

10 a.m. EST; Streaming on Fox Sports, Telemundo and Peacock

France (-310; bet $310 to win $100)

Draw (+425; bet $100 to win $425)

Poland (+900)

England vs. Senegal

2 p.m. EST; Streaming on Fox Sports, Telemundo and Peacock

England (-185)

Draw (+300)

Senegal (+600)

Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook

To say that the defending World Cup champion French team is capable of running it back, becoming one of three teams in soccer history to win consecutive titles in the most prestigious tournament the sport has to offer, would be an understatement.

Even without Karim Benzema, who was lost for the entirety of the Cup due to a thigh injury, the team appears poised to go on a run that could end with Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann and Hugo Lloris hoisting the coveted trophy and etching their names in history books.

Awaiting them in the round of 16 is Poland, who struggled to score in group play, totaling just two goals, both of which came in the same game (a win over Saudi Arabia).

Though the Polish team defends well, that is about all it does, especially considering its sub-40 percent time of possession. An inability to put the ball in the net, let alone hold onto it, is not a recipe for success.

France has scored double the number of goals it has allowed, and the team's one group loss came to a Tunisia team in a match that lacked meaning. Les Bleus are among the class of the tournament and will prove as much Sunday with a one-sided victory over an outmatched opponent.

Look for Mbappé to continue proving he can shoulder France's World Cup hopes by scoring his fourth goal of the tournament and leading his team to victory.

Prediction: France wins, 3-0

On paper, England is superior to the underdog Senegal squad.

The team is so talented offensively that leader Harry Kane can afford not to score thus far in World Cup competition because his teammates have managed to find the net. They have outscored their opposition 9-2 and, other than a letdown against the United States that ended with a no-score draw, have looked dominant along the way.

While the offense has done its job, blowing the opposition out, the defense has been equally as great. Key defenders Harry Maguire and John Stones have led a unit that allowed just two goals in group play.

A team that can control the pace of the game, seemingly score at will and prevent the opponents from keeping up? That sounds like an obvious winner, especially against a team like Senegal, which many believe to be lucky just to make it to the dance.

But therein lies what makes this matchup so intriguing.

"Two-thirds of the world doubted we would qualify," center back Kalidou Koulibaly said before World Cup play (h/t New York Times). He is right, but Senegal is now considered Africa's best hope, one of only two teams from the continent still playing.

Fueled by a cause larger than personal legacy, and with the expectations of the masses low, Senegal has the ability to stun the world and advance to the final eight.

Is the team missing star Sadio Mané following a fibula injury on November 8? Yes. Would he have been enough to help propel Senegal into the semifinals of the tournament? It is very likely.

Throw in a suspension for Idrissa Gueye and an ankle injury for Cheikhou Kouyaté and you have even more reason to be pessimistic about the team's ability to match England and provide a genuine challenge to its advancement in World Cup play.

With nothing to play for and no realistic expectation that the team would make it to this point anyway, Senegal is a mighty dangerous opponent for England. Look for the team to be bold, attacking early and often in an attempt to catch the English sleeping and, hopefully, offsetting the deficit in talent depth.

We know England is prone to the occasional letdown, with the match against the USA again serving as a reminder of such, and Senegal hopes to take advantage.

As fun as an upset might be for the casual viewer, and as great as the feel-good story of the underdog rolling into the quarterfinals may be, Senegal is outmanned, and worse, England has too many different combinations it can throw at its opponent.

The English are too healthy and too aggressive in attack, and they should be able to outlast a team in Senegal that is realistically one player away from making the splash it had hoped to later in the competition.

Prediction: England wins, 2-1