Early 2018 World Cup Betting Preview

It took 871 matches over almost three years. In those matches, players scored 2,454 goals, and referees hoisted 2,965 yellow cards. When Peru knocked off New Zealand, 2-0, in the second leg of their playoff series, and earned the last spot in the World Cup (and Peru’s first since 1982), the field for Russia was set, so let’s take a look at some of the qualifiers and talk about their chances, as you begin to plan your 2018 World Cup betting strategy. We still haven’t seen the groups, and we don’t know who of all the seeded teams will be in the draw. But we know enough to start looking at the field. We know which of the usual qualifiers are out — Chile (the reigning South American champion) is out. The Netherlands is out. Italy is out — for the first time since 1958. The United States is out. So is Ghana. But we’ll still see many of the usual soccer odds top favorites — Germany, England, Spain, Brazil, France, and Portugal, along with Iceland who became the smallest nation ever to qualify, with just 335,000 inhabitants.

Early 2018 World Cup Betting Preview

• Host country: Russia
• Dates: 14 June – 15 July (32 days)
• Teams: 32 (from 5 confederations)
• Venues: 12 (in 11 host cities)
• Total matches: 64
• Debuting teams: Iceland / Panama

Germany won the Cup in 2014 and comes back seeking to mount the first successful title defense since Brazil won in 1958 and 1962. Germany won all 10 of their qualification matchups and tallied 43 goals along the way. They are #1 in the world and have not lost since France took them down in the semifinals of Euro 2016. Brazil looks for their sixth World Cup and has looked solid over the last 18 months. They hosted the 2014 World Cup, of course, which made the 7-1 dismantling they took from Germany all the more embarrassing. They enter Russia looking for redemption — and for a trophy. Coach Adenor Leonardo Bacchi came on in 2016, and Brazil has not lost a competitive fixture during his tenure, and they won 10 of their last 12 qualification matches. Lionel Messi did not follow through with his tearful threat to retire from the sport, which means that Argentina (who posted an amazing hat-trick in the Argentinians’ clincher to qualify) has a chance to win. They have two World Cups and look to add a third. What about the Belgians? They have Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City) and Eden Hazard (Chelsea), and they won their group in World Cup qualification by sailing through without a single defeat. Could this be the year they leap from potential contender to champion?

The Draw

The next step happens on December 1, when the 32 World Cup teams find out there group assignments (eight groups, labeled A-H). They have been placed in four pots, numbered 1-4, on the basis of their FIFA Ranking on October 16, 2017.

• 1: Russia (already in Group A as the host team), Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland, France
• 2: Spain, Switzerland, England, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Croatia, Peru
• 3: Iceland, Costa Rica, Sweden, Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal, Iran, Denmark
• 4: Nigeria, Australia, Japan, Morocco, Panama, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Serbia

The group selection process will inform a lot of your 2018 World Cup Betting decisions, of course. If your team ends up in the inevitable “Group of Death” — of which at least one or two always emerge through the drawing process — your odds will change significantly. If your team ends up in a relatively easy group, though, you can breathe easy. Each group consists of one team from each pot, which is designed to keep the best teams from running into each other in group play. But as we saw in 2014, when the United States, Germany, Portugal, and Ghana all ended up in one group, things can get tough from the very beginning. After all, we’re talking about the top 32 teams in the world. So stay tuned to the group selection process and to our updates. After the groups are drawn, we’ll have a more thorough 2018 World Cup Betting preview of this quadrennial event.

Last 10 World Cup Champions

• 2014: Germany
• 2010: Spain
• 2006: Italy
• 2002: Brazil
• 1998: France
• 1994: Brazil
• 1990: Germany
• 1986: Argentina
• 1982: Italy
• 1978: Argentina