Early 2018 World Cup Betting Preview

With less than 200 days to go before the start of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, we now know the 32 countries that will be chasing world supremacy. The reality here, though, is that only a handful of those nations will have a legitimate shot at winning it all. We will have a better idea of how things may play out, at least in the group stages, on Friday, December 1, as that is when the draw for those groups takes place. In the meantime, let’s dive into an early 2018 World Cup betting preview to check who’s favorite according to the latest soccer lines.

Early 2018 World Cup Betting Preview

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Tournament details

• Host country: Russia
• Dates: 14 June – 15 July
• Teams: 32 (from 5 confederations)
• Venues: 12 (11 host cities)

Qualified Teams

• Russia
• Iran
• South Korea
• Japan
• Saudi Arabia
• Tunisia
• Nigeria
• Morocco
• Senegal
• Egypt
• Mexico
• Costa Rica
• Panama
• Brazil
• Uruguay
• Argentina
• Colombia
• France
• Portugal
• Germany
• Serbia
• Poland
• England
• Spain
• Belgium
• Iceland
• Switzerland
• Croatia

The Draw

It’s worth taking a moment to talk about how the draw is performed, as this will give you a better idea of how the finished groups might look. The 32 teams are split into 4 different pots, which are based on world rankings. Pot A is where the winner of the 2018 World Cup is most likely to come from, although Pot B could also deliver a winner. Pots C and D are the lesser nations, the majority of whom will, barring a surprise or two, not make it beyond the group stage. Given how the pots are set up, you might get groups that look like the following:

• Brazil
• Mexico
• Denmark
• Japan

With every major soccer tournament, we always seem to get a draw that sets up what is referred to as a group of death, which means that it features at least 3 very decent teams. A group of death may look something like the following:

• Germany
• England
• Sweden
• Nigeria

I would suggest not making any wagers on the eventual winner until the draw has been made on Friday, as you will then have a good idea of the path that each team will need to take to get into the World Cup Final. One potential upset to look for is the possibility of a Pot C or D team coming out of the group that Russia is in. The Russians have been placed in Pot A because they are the hosts, but the reality is that they are by far the weakest of the 8 nations in that pot. They looked pretty awful at the Confederation’s Cup earlier this year and could be looking at an early exit if they do not get a favorable draw.

The Pots

Pot 1

• Russia
• Germany
• Brazil
• Portugal
• Argentina
• Belgium
• Poland
• France

Pot 2

• Spain
• Peru
• Switzerland
• England
• Colombia
• Mexico
• Uruguay
• Croatia

Pot 3

• Denmark
• Iceland
• Costa Rica
• Sweden
• Tunisia
• Egypt
• Senegal
• Iran

Pot 4

• Serbia
• Nigeria
• Australia
• Japan
• Morocco
• Panama
• South Korea
• Saudi Arabia

Top Contenders

There are going to be a lot of soccer fans who automatically put their 2018 World Cup Betting money on Brazil, which you would think would be a pretty good move given that the Brazilians have won the World Cup more than any other nation. The problem here is that South American teams just don’t win the World Cup when it is hosted by a European country. We are almost certainly going to be looking at a European nation as the eventual winner, which narrows down the field of potential winners quite considerably. If we are to believe that the winner will come from Europe, then I think it might be a good idea to look at a team at a better than average price. Germany and Spain are going to get a lot of love from the bookies, and rightfully so, but I am anxiously waiting to see what sort of group France end up in when the draw is made on Friday. This is a team brimming with talent, and while the French often plays the role of the near men, I think this squad could make a very deep run and become one of the 2018 World Cup Betting favorites.