Before the World Cup action begins, it’s a good idea to look at the pre-tournament favourites that are predicted to lift the trophy.
Firstly, Brazil will start as the overwhelming favourite in the 2022 World Cup Outright Betting markets. While they haven’t tasted the ultimate success at a Cup since 2002, the markets are predicting this is the year that the drought will be broken. Some of the reasons why included their always talented South American squad, the hot & humid weather conditions being in their favour and they have arguably one of the easiest group stages.
The French are expected to challenge Brazil all the way to the Final. As the defending champs, France will be keen for a rare back-to-back double at the World Cup. They’ve featured in 3 of the last 6 World Cup finals and that consistency is the key to their success. France should have no problems in finishing first in Group D and that should see them continue the momentum into the knockout stages.
Some of the other nations that are expected to compete for World Cup glory include Argentina, England, Spain and Germany. Argentina will potentially be sending off Lionel Messi and that could give them extra motivation to lift the trophy. England were impressive in the 2018 Cup and have another strong squad coming into 2022. Spain do have a tough draw in Group E against Germany but if they can upset the Germans, that will give them a lot of confidence going into the knockout rounds. Speaking of Germany, they had a shocker at the 2018 Cup as they finished last in Group F but that should make them keen to make amends in 2022.
How to bet on the World Cup?
There are plenty of World Cup betting strategies to discuss and we’ll look at some of our favourites. In our opinion, the group stages can be much easier to predict compared to later on in the tournament so this is when betting is preferred. The major reason for this is that there are more mismatches between the stronger and weaker nations. So that chances of big upsets are fairly reduced. Whereas the knockout stages will feature a lot of matches that could go either way and this makes it hard to pick a head-to-head winner. Generally, it’s best to focus on other markets during this time, such as the over / under total goals.
It’s also a good strategy to focus on the Group winner betting markets. Simply because there are groups that are weaker than others. For example, Brazil in Group G likely won’t have much competition for the top spot. As a result, betting on Groups where there is a clear strong nation is a good and safe bet. Furthermore, picking a team to finish second in a group can come with good value odds. In 2022, there are a few groups where second place looks up for grabs. This includes Group A, B and G.
If you would like to bet on the outright winner, the best odds will be pre-tournament since the odds will fluctuate a lot more while the tournament is being played. This is especially true for underdogs. If they start winning during the tournament, there are odds will start to shorten as they play more matches. So the best odds are available before they kick off.
Top bookmakers to bet on the World Cup
There are plenty of betting sites in Australia that will offer odds and betting markets to bet on the World Cup. Here is a list of our top and recommended betting sites to use during the tournament.