Sixty-four matches across 29 days, 32 teams, and only one winner. The 22nd edition of the World Cup is here, as the best teams and players in the world battle it out in Qatar.
Will France hang on to the title and become champions for the third time? Will Argentina’s Lionel Messi or Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo add a World Cup to their list of honours? Will Brazil handle the pressure of being favourites? Is it time for England to bring football home?
At Bet9ja, we’ve been looking into our crystal ball and have predicted the outcome of the tournament. Here, we will give you a rundown of our choices for the standout nations, and other teams to look out for.
You can also see the outright winner odds for all 32 teams below.
Brazil
Manager: Tite
Top scorer in the squad: Neymar (75)
World Cup wins: 5 (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
Last World Cup: Quarter-finals (lost to Belgium)
Outright winner odds: (at time of writing) 4.80 (favourites)
Prediction: Semi-finals (loss to Argentina)
Brazil’s position as favourites is likely due to how their squad appears on paper and the fact they topped their qualifying table unbeaten in 17 games. However, they were defeated 1-0 by Argentina in last year’s Copa America final, before the teams drew 0-0 in Argentina in World Cup qualifying.
We see a comfortable place at the top of Group G waiting for Brazil ahead of Serbia, before knockout wins over Uruguay and Germany, but in what should be a tight encounter with Argentina in the semis, they’re missing out this time.
Argentina
Manager: Lionel Scaloni
Top scorer in the squad: Lionel Messi (91)
World Cup wins: 2 (1978, 1986)
Last World Cup: Last 16 (lost to France)
Outright winner odds: 6.75 (2nd favourites)
Prediction: Champions
As with Brazil, Argentina were unbeaten in qualifying, and they are also champions of South America. They should top Group C, with Mexico joining them in second. Denmark could be tricky opponents in the Last 16, but they should have too much for them. The same goes for the Netherlands in the quarter-finals, before the semi-final win over Brazil mentioned above.
Lying between La Albiceleste and their third World Cup will be France. Even with the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Karim Benzema and Ousmane Dembélé, Argentina are on an upward curve and this has to be Lionel Messi’s time!
France
Manager: Didier Deschamps
Top scorer in the squad: Olivier Giroud (49)
World Cup wins: 2 (1998, 2018)
Last World Cup: Champions
Outright winner odds: 8.00 (3rd favourites)
Prediction: Runners-up (loss to Argentina)
There can be no doubting the loss of Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté in midfield to injury is hugely damaging to France’s chance of winning back-to-back World Cups, not least due to their tournament and trophy-winning experience. France are also struggling for momentum after finishing third in their Nations League group.
Despite this, they are still strong at both ends of the pitch, especially with the forwards mentioned above. We see them topping Group D ahead of Denmark, followed by wins over Mexico, England and Portugal, before running into Messi in the final.
Spain
Manager: Luis Enrique
Top scorer in the squad: Álvaro Morata (27)
World Cup wins: 1 (2010)
Last World Cup: Last 16 (lost to Russia)
Outright winner odds: 9.00 (4th favourites)
Prediction: Quarter-finals (loss to Portugal)
The days of winning World Cups and European Championships back-to-back are now a distant memory for Spain, and while Pedri in midfield is an emerging talent, they lack the world-class quality across the pitch to go all the way.
They can still progress in tournaments, as they showed reaching the semi-finals of the European Championship last year and the final of the Nations League. They also recently topped their Nations League group and took four points off Portugal, so they can beat them in the quarter-finals in Qatar after finishing second in Group E behind Germany and beating Croatia in the Last 16. France in the semi-finals will be one hurdle too many though.
England
Manager: Gareth Southgate
Top scorer in the squad: Harry Kane (51)
World Cup wins: 1 (1966)
Last World Cup: Semi-finals (lost to Croatia)
Outright winner odds: 9.50 (5th favourites)
Prediction: Quarter-finals (loss to France)
Getting to the latter stages of tournaments is Gareth Southgate’s forte, after a run to the last four in the 2018 World Cup and the 2018/19 Nations League. There was also, of course, the runner-up finish at Euro 2020.
England’s problem is getting over the line when tactical flexibility is needed, and they had a disastrous Nations League this year, winning no matches. They should sail through Group B, and Senegal in the Last 16 shouldn’t be difficult, but France’s experience at this level will prevail in the last eight.
Germany
Manager: Hansi Flick
Top scorer in the squad: Thomas Muller (44)
World Cup wins: 4 (1954, 1974, 1990 as West Germany, 2014 as a unified nation)
Last World Cup: Group Stage
Outright winner odds: 12.00 (6th favourites)
Prediction: Quarter-finals (loss to Brazil)
Germany’s bottom position in their group in 2018 was arguably the biggest surprise of that tournament, and there was a slight improvement in a run to the Last 16 of the European Championship last year.
There is still plenty of quality and experience in the team with the likes of Thomas Müller, Antonio Rüdiger and Ilkay Gündogan, along with young talents like Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala. This tournament may come a stage too early for them though, and even after topping a group with Spain and beating Belgium, they should be edged out by Brazil in the last eight.
Teams to watch
Aside from the top-six favourites, the Netherlands are unbeaten in 15 matches, and we envisage them reaching the quarter-finals, where they will lose to Argentina, and while Belgium still have the likes of Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard, they are predicted to lose to Germany in the Last 16. Meanwhile, 2018 runners-up Croatia could win Group F ahead of Belgium, before losing to Spain in the Last 16.
Group A:
Netherlands (13.50), Senegal (101.00), Ecuador (151.00), Qatar (251.00)
Group B:
England (9.50), USA (126.00), Wales (151.00), Iran (651.00)
Group C:
Argentina (6.75), Poland (126.00), Mexico (201.00), Saudi Arabia (501.00)
Group D:
France (8.00), Denmark (34.00), Australia (301.00), Tunisia (651.00)
Group E:
Spain (9.00), Germany (12.00), Japan (201.00), Costa Rica (501.00)
Group F:
Belgium (13.50), Croatia (51.00), Canada (201.00), Morocco (261.00)
Group G:
Brazil (4.80), Serbia (101.00), Switzerland (101.00), Cameroon (351.00)
Group H:
Portugal (17.00), Uruguay (41.00), South Korea (201.00), Ghana (301.00)
Now you know our predictions, head down to Bet9ja and enjoy the World Cup in style. With great prizes to be won each week, we’re the place to be!
