Most of the time, it is wise to avoid placing a blind wager on a top team. It’s also highly likely that a few of the candidates for world champion who were believed to be a lock will lose early.
However, you need to be aware of the general favourite condition in order to place profitable World Cup wagers. So, below you’ll find some helpful World Cup predictions.
When betting on World Cup matches you should know that each World Cup has its definite favourites. However, previous competitions have demonstrated that even the strongest players are susceptible to abrupt stumbles.
For instance, who would have imagined that Switzerland would disqualify the world champions France from the Euro 2020 (2021) competition?
Brazil
Brazil is the favourite to win the 2022 World Cup; as of today, Oddschecker had the longest odds on Brazil’s victory in Qatar at 9/2.
More recently, the Selecao have only ever advanced past the quarterfinals once, at home in 2014, when they were knocked out in the semi-finals, losing 7-1 to Germany.
To be fair to Brazil, however, their recent play has been more than passable. In their last 29 games, they have lost just once under Titel to Argentina in the 2021 Copa América final and they cruised through South American World Cup qualifying.
They came in first place, finishing 21 points ahead of the automatic qualification despite playing one fewer game than all but Argentina, they still reached the cut-off mark.
France
The best odds on France winning the World Cup are 33/5, which places them as the second
favourite. When you consider that Didier Deschamps’ team is the current tournament champion, that is not unwarranted.
Recent France outcomes have been quite questionable. They have only won one of their past six games and they were really lucky to avoid being demoted from the top division of the UEFA Nations League.
In Group A1, Denmark defeated them both at home and abroad, while Croatia defeated them in Paris. They were barely able to escape dropping to League B by one point because Ralf Rangnick’s Austria were shakier than them.
France surely has too much for the latter two, at least. But on current form, who knows?
Argentina
Similar to France, Argentina has won the world championship twice, albeit its most recent
victory dates back 36 years further in the annals of history. The current best odds for an
Albiceleste victory in Qatar are 38/5, according to Oddschecker.
The Argentines began an ongoing undefeated streak two years prior to 2021, when they won their first Copa América since 1993.
Lionel Scaloni’s team has gone 35 games without losing, putting them in striking sight of Italy’s record streak of 37 games without a loss. Argentina, a team that breezed through qualification, enters the finals with Lionel Messi, its captain, looking excellent early in the season after a rocky debut season at Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi has accumulated 10 goals and 8 assists in 13 outings for club and country so far in 2022–23. His sights are set on the one title that eludes him as he prepares for what is likely to be his final World Cup.
England
The Three Lions have been waiting for another big trophy for 56 years. England made it to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018, just losing out on a spot in the final against Croatia in extra time.
Three years later, at the covid-postponed Euro 2020, Southgate’s team made it to the final, but Italy won the European championship on penalties.
Can England make a bigger impact in Qatar? The longest odds on England winning the World Cup right now are 17/2, making them the fourth favourites as things stand. This suggests that the bookmakers believe they can.
However, England is a different cup contender who enters the competition in highly dubious — nay, simply terrible — condition. The dismal run includes a 4-0 home loss against Hungary, a team ranked 32 places below them in the FIFA global rankings, and occurred in a Nations League campaign that resulted in relegation from League A.
After a thrilling draw with Germany, they had lost their last six games. Since his 2016 appointment, Southgate is under real pressure.
Spain
Spain, the 2010 World Cup champions, are no longer attempting to recapture former tiki-taka triumphs and have transformed into a more direct, attacking team that is going somewhere under Luis Enrique.
Instead, they learned their lesson in a last-16 loss to hosts Russia at the 2018 World Cup. Given this, the 9/1 World Cup odds being offered for Spain are the gloomiest.
La Roja was narrowly lost in the 2020–21 Nations League finals, and the only thing standing between them and the Euro 2020 title match was a penalty shootout.
After Spain defeated Sweden in their World Cup qualifying group and secured a spot in the Nations League finals for a second consecutive year.