There are some sporting events which are dubbed as mega happenings in the life of human beings. There are quite a few of them, and they include the Olympics and the football World Cup.
Though Olympics has at least a few dozen events for which thousands of participants come from many countries of the world, the fact that the World Cup Soccer has the same following is something that is simply amazing.
This is, because, it is one of the most popular sporting events in the world. Hence, there are millions of people who are willing to stake their monies in the ensuing World Cup matches which will happen in 2018.
Germany, the underdogs, won the 2014 World Cup, and, hence, it would be interesting to find out the football odds which are being portrayed by various bookmakers and online sites.
How to Go About It?
We all know that there will be 54 teams who will be entering the qualifying rounds and out of these 54 only 32 will be able to make it to the World Cup finals.
Out of the above 32, 16 will enter the pre-quarter final stage through a round robin system. From the pre-quarter, final onwards it will be knockout leading to quarter final – eight teams, semifinal – four teams and of course the final – two teams.
Hence, when we talk about the latest World Cup odds, it is important to take the above factors into consideration.
The Favorites
As we know, there is a qualifying process as far as the World Cup for 2018 is concerned. There are right now eight groups consisting of six teams each.
Hence, 48 teams will-will be vying for a berth to the 2018 World Cup which will have 32 teams. Therefore, sixteen teams will be knocked out. It would be difficult to have a look at each group in detail.
However, what we will be doing is to have a look at the top four teams who will be making it to the World Cup 2008 finals.
A Look at the Qualifying Groups
Here are possible teams which could be qualifying for the World Cup 2018 finals. From Group A, it should France Sweden, Holland and Bulgaria with Luxemburg and Belarus not having much of a chance.
The favorites to top this group are Holland and France with odds of 3/1and 1/4 respectively. From Group B, it should be Ireland, Wales, Georgia, and Serbia.
The other two teams namely Austria and Moldavia do not stand much of a chance. As far as Groups C to I are concerned, the most likely qualifiers are Poland, Montenegro, Armenia, and Denmark.
The other teams which will make the final 32 eleven are Germany, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, England, Slovakia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Spain, Israel, Liechtenstein, Italy, Albania, Belgium, Bosnia, Cyprus, Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Finland, Ukraine, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Australia.
Then, of course, there are teams from Latin American countries and who can ignore the likes of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and others.
How to Select the Winners?
Now that we have a team of 32 available for the final World Cup Grouping for 2018, it would now be pertinent to find out the latest World Cup odds as far as a few of the favorite of the 32 are concerned. There is no denying the fact that Germany will continue to be the favorite because of their current form.
Hence, it would not be surprising if bookmakers give them a favorable odd of 9/2 though they are likely to face stiff competition from other European countries like Spain, France, Italy, and England.
Latin American Teams
As far as the Latin American countries are concerned, Brazil and Argentina are the only two teams which are likely to make it to the last sixteen or further. However, Argentina looks a much better team on paper and this borne out by the fact that they have right now had an odd number of 8/3 in their favor, while Brazil is far behind at 12/2.
But it would be wrong to write off Brazil because on any given day they have the talent and the skill set to take on and rip apart the defenses of even the best teams.
What about Other Teams?
Apart from Germany, Brazil, Argentina, there are many other teams which are also capable of upsetting the apple cart and winning the World Cup based on their sheer strength and skill sets. Spain, for example, is a team which must have done much better than what was expected of them.
They are rebuilding their team quite aggressively, and therefore their current odds rating of 12/2 may not be exactly in line with their overall expectations and available opportunities.
Then there are teams like Italy, France, Holland and England which are no pushovers and depending on the final draw they certainly can be a thorn for teams like Germany, Argentina, and Brazil. England and Holland have quite a lot of expectations from their supporters.
This is supported by the fact that they have decent odds in their favor ranging from 12/5 for England to 11/8 for Holland to 16/8 for France. However, these might change quite dramatically nearer the event and who knows there could be some dark horse which could be walking away with the honors at the end of the day.
Conclusion
Hence, there are quite a few parameters to be considered when it comes to coming out with the right World Cup odds to win.
It would not be advisable to merely depend on the odds of the teams as put forth by bookmakers and online sites. A better way forward would be to take the help and assistance of the actual statistics of the various teams.
This should cover their past achievements, current team strength, players of importance and significance and of course the groups in which they are going to be eventually placed.
