THE World Cup reaches the quarter-final stage with the biggest shock not being Germany humbled by South Korea but England winning a penalty shoot-out.

France v Uruguay (tomorrow, Friday 3pm, ITV). Prices: France evens, Draw 9/4, Uruguay 18/5 (Bet365). Much will rest on what part (if any) Uruguayan talisman Edinson Cavani plays in the game but even if he fails to make it the prices are not commensurate with how both countries have performed in the competition to date. France saw off Argentina in a high-scoring thriller but both in qualification and in the tournament itself, the Sky Blues have proved to be superior to France’s last 16 opponents. Taking 18/5 that a well-drilled defence and Luis Suarez can march into the semi-finals in 90 minutes is the bet of the round. Prediction: France 1 Uruguay 2.

Brazil v Belgium (tomorrow, Friday 7pm, BBC1). Prices: Brazil 11/10; Draw 5/2; Belgium 14/5. Belgium made desperately heavy weather of defeating Japan in the last round and now face the tournament favourites. Brazil will be wary of Belgium’s star players but they are gradually moving through the gears as the competition progresses and have too much all-round quality to be stopped here. Prediction: Brazil 2 Belgium 1.

England v Sweden (Saturday 3pm, BBC1). Prices: England 10/11; Draw 12/5; Sweden 4/1. The draw has opened up very kindly for England and they were much better than scraping past Columbia on penalties would indicate. Sweden are the sort of nuggety outfit that historically become a stumbling block for England but the Scandinavians look slightly weaker and England a fair bit stronger than on previous occasions. However, the prices are short enough. Prediction: England 1 Sweden 0.

Russia v Croatia (Saturday 7pm, BBC1). Prices: Russia 29/10 (Bet365); Draw 11/5 (Betfred); Croatia 5/4. The host nation has over-performed to get this far while Croatia were mediocre against Denmark and have yet to convince they are a force to be reckoned with. Russia may adopt similar stifling tactics as they did against Spain and an uninspiring game with a penalty shoot-out as its denouement is a reasonable probability. Prediction: Russia 1 Croatia 1 (Croatia to win on penalties).

Wimbledon is still in its embryonic stage and at the time of writing, the men's outright market is as follows: Roger Federer 8/5 (Boylesports); Marin Cilic 6/1; Novak Djokovic 13/2 (Paddy Power); Rafael Nadal 13/2 (Betfred); Juan Martin Del Potro 16/1; Nick Krygios and Alexander Zverev 18/1; Milos Raonic 28/1 and further down the list Kyle Edmund 100/1.

The ladies' outright market has already been shaken up by the first round exit of pre-tournament favourite Petra Kvitova and the revised prices are as follows: Serena Williams 9/2; Garbine Muguruza 13/2 (Skybet); Simona Halep 8/1; Angelique Kerber 17/2; Caroline Wozniacki 11/1; Madison Keys 14/1; Ashleigh Barty 25/1 and Johanna Konta 33/1.