FIFA World Cup 2018 outright betting tips, match Information and all teams summary

The FIFA Soccer World Cup will be held this year in Russia from Friday the 14th of June to Sunday 15th of July. There are five rounds. For the first round, 32 countries are divided into 8 groups with 4 countries in each group. In the group stage first round each team plays each other once (Round Robin). Three points for a win and one point for a draw. The teams that finish first and second in their group qualify for Round 2 (the first round of the “knockout” stage). Teams that finish 3rd and 4th in their group are knocked out of the competition.

The Betting Markets

There are many betting markers available for the World Cup, these include outright ante-post betting, individual match betting and in-game betting.

World Cup Betting Available Now! ⇒ William Hill

The Outright Betting Markets

There are many outright betting markets available for the World Cup, these include the group winners, to qualify for the 2nd round (last 16), to reach the quarter finals, to reach the semi-finals, to reach the final, the final teams (which teams will play each other in the final) and the tournament winner. There are also markets for individual players with the most popular being “The Golden Boot Award” for the player who scores the most goals.

Please see below for the approximate odds for the outright betting markets currently available:

Outright Winner

This is an “ante-post” market where you choose who you think will win the World Cup. Each Way bets at 1-2 are available at ½ the odds.

The outright winners can be divided into three groups – Favorites, Outside Favorites and No Chance:

Listed in (brackets) is the number of times that country has won the World Cup.

*Recommended Bets

Since 1966 the World Cup has never been won by the team that won it in the previous World Cup - Germany won the World Cup in 2014 so is not recommended here.

Of the five favorites, France are the weakest (based on opinion) and so odds of 7.00 are not so good.

Beaten finalists in the last World Cup often win it in the next one so Argentina are good value at 10.00.

Brazil win it every three or four times so 5.50 is not a bad price.

Spain are very strong (based on opinion and their recent “friendly" results) and look good value at 7.00

Forget Belgium to win it – Roberto Martinez (along with Gareth Southgate - the England manager) is not a world cup winning manager.

Each way bets @ 1/2 or “to get to the final” are maybe worth gambling for the recommended three teams because:

• Portugal are European Champions and have the best or second best player in the world.
• Uruguay are very dangerous and no-one would want to play them in the knockout stage.
• Russia are the “host” country and host countries often do very well (Uruguay, Italy, England, Germany, Argentina, France, South Korea [semi-finals]) – they have extra support and will employ strategies outside the game to give themselves an advantage.

It’s possible that maybe one of these teams might get to the semi-final stage – possibly Columbia, Mexico, Sweden or Poland. England are only 15.00 because so many people gamble on them in England but they should be at least 51.00.

To reach the final

This is a bet on the team to get to the final - not to win it.

The World Cup is basically won by a European team or Argentina or Brazil, although African and Asian teams are getting stronger they are still some way off making the final. Although Portugal have never won, they could make the final this time after winning the European Championship in 2016.

Doubles are available in this market - if you choose to gamble “doubles” then you will need to check the “draw” format. To do this you can use the World Cup Fixture charts widely available on-line to help you see which teams are in which half of the draw.

To reach the semi-finals

This is a bet for the team to get to the semi-final stage.

 
Doubles, Trebles and 4 -folds are also available in this market. 

Two teams win @ 1 point (x6 Doubles) returns minimum 4.84 (profit is -1.16)
Three teams win @ 1 point (x6 Doubles) returns minimum 15.27 (profit is 9.27)
Four teams win @ 1 point (x6 Doubles) returns minimum 33.01 (profit is 27.01)

A Germany, Brazil, Spain and Argentina trebles perm @ 1 point returns:

Three teams win @ 1 point (x4 Trebles) returns minimum 11.47 (profit is 7.47)
All 4 teams win @ 1 point (x4 trebles) returns 51.47 (profit is 47.47)

You can also do “perms” in this market, for example you could:

Choose four teams and have 4 trebles or / and 6 doubles.
Choose three teams and have one treble and / or 3 doubles.

To reach the quarter-finals

This is a bet for the team to get to the quarter-finals or “win their 2nd round game”.

The winners of Group A play the team that finishes second in Group B and the winners of Group B play the team that finishes second in Group A. For example, if Russia win group A and Portugal finish 2nd in group B then the Round 2 fixture would be Russia vs Portugal.

We have listed the teams that might play each other in the 2nd round in (brackets) - we have listed the two favorites for each group - not all four teams possible.

 
Teams that are in the same group in Round One cannot play each other until the semi-final or final. For example Uruguay and Russia are in the same group so can not play each other again until the semifinal or final.

Doubles, Trebles, 4-folds, 5-folds, 6-folds, 7-folds and  8-fold accumulators are available in this market. You could also do “perms” in this market as per the “Reach the Semi-finals” markets.

Name the Finalists

Which teams will play against each other in the final?

 
England is listed with so many teams because so many people bet on England.

Here we have chosen possible finalists based on our previous recommendations for teams that may win or reach the final.

Outright Group Winners and “To qualify for the 2nd Round”

This market focuses on the 8 groups of four teams. In these two markets you can bet on which teams will win the group and / or which teams will reach the 2nd round.

Doubles, Trebles, 4-folds, 5-folds, 6-folds, 7-folds and  8-fold accumulators are available in this market.

You could also do “perms” in this market.

Top Goal Scorer

Which player will score the most goals? Each way is ¼ for a place 1,2,3,4

The most common number of goals scored for the Golden Boot Winner is “6” so look for players who you think can or will score at least 6 goals.

Look for penalty takers and free kick takers amongst defenders that have higher odds for each way bets.

Doubles are also available for Top Scorer and World Cup Winner for example Neymar to win Golden Boot and Brazil win the World Cup @ 25.00

Brief summary of teams

South American Teams

Brazil qualified easily as winners of the South American League with 41 points and lost only one game (played 18). Their system is 4-1-4-1. Their star players are Neymar (Paris St-Germain) and Paulinho (Barcelona).

Uruguay finished 2nd in the South American League behind Brazil. Their system is 4-4-2. Their star players are Luis Suárez (Barcelona) and Federico Valverde (Deportivo La Coruña, on loan from Real Madrid).

Argentina qualified 3rd behind Brazil and Uruguay by winning their final game of the group. Their system is 3-4-3. Their star players are Lionel Messi (Barcelona) and Paulo Dybala (Juventus).

Columbia finished fourth in the South American League behind Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. Their system is 4-2-3-1. Their star players are James Rodríguez (Bayern Munich, on loan from Real Madrid) and Davinson Sánchez (Tottenham Hotpsur).

Peru finished fifth in the South American league and went to the “intercontinental play-offs” and beat New Zealand 2-0 over two legs.Their system is 4-2-3-1. Their star players are Jefferson Farfán (Lokomotiv Moscow) and Christian Cueva (São Paulo).

North and Central American Teams

Panama beat Costa Rica in their final group game to finish third in the Concacaf round five behind Mexico and Costa Rica. Their system is 4-4-2. Their star players are Gabriel Gómez (Atlético Bucaramanga) and Román Torres (Seattle Sounders).

Mexico finished as winners of Concacaf round five ahead of Costa Rica and Panama. Their system is 4-3-3. Their star players are Javier “Chicharito” Hernández (West Ham United) and Hirving “Chucky” Lozano (PSV Eindhoven).

Costa Rica finished second in Concacaf round five behind Mexico. Their system is 5-4-1. Their star players are Keylor Navas (Real Madrid) and Marco Ureña (San Jose Earthquakes).

Asian & Oceanic Teams

Japan won Asian Group B (round three) ahead of Saudi Arabia. Their system is 4-3-3. Their star players are Maya Yoshida (Southampton) and Yosuke Ideguchi (Gamba Osaka).

Saudi Arabia finished second in Asian Group B (round three) behind Japan. Their system is 4-3-3. Their star players are Nawaf Al Abed (Al-Hilal) and Fahad Al-Muwallad (Al-Ittihad).

Iran won Asian Group A (round three) ahead of South Korea. Their system is 4-2-3-1. Their Star player is Sardar Azmoun (Rubin Kazan) and Saman Ghoddos (Ostersund).

South Korea finished second in Asian Group A behind Iran (round three). Their system is 4-4-2. Their star players are Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur) and Kwon Chang-hoon (Dijon).

Australia finished third in Asian Group B behind Japan and Saudi Arabia and then beat Syria in a play off and then Honduras in a two-leg play-off. Their system is 3-4-1-2. Their star players are Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town) and Mathew Leckie (Hertha Berlin).

African Teams

Nigeria qualified with a game to spare as winners of African Group B (round three) ahead of Zambia. They have only missed one World Cup since 1994 (Germany in 2006). Their system is 4-3-3. Their star players are Victor Moses (Chelsea) and Alex Iwobi (Arsenal).

Morocco qualified without losing a game and finished winners of African Group C (round three) ahead of the Ivory Coast. Their system is 4-5-1. Their star players are Hakim Ziyech (Ajax) and Sofiane Boufal (Southampton).

Tunisia finished as winners of African Group A (round three) winning four of their six games. Their system is 4-2-3-1. Their star players are Youssef Msakni (Al-Duhail) and Naïm Sliti (Dijon, on loan from Lille).

Senegal finished comfortable winners of African Group D (round three) ahead of Burkina Faso. Their system is 4-3-3. Their star players are Sadio Mané (Liverpool) and M’Baye Niang (Torino, on loan from Milan).

Egypt qualified with a game to spare as winners of African Group E (round three) ahead of Uganda and this will be their first world cup in 30 years. Their system is 4-2-3-1. Their star players are Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) and Mahmoud Hassan “Trézéguet” (Kasımpaşa, on loan from Anderlecht)

European Teams

Russia qualified automatically as “Hosts”. Their system is 3-5-2. Their star players are Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow) and Aleksandr Golovin (CSKA Moscow).

This is Iceland’s first ever World Cup and finished top of European Group I ahead of Croatia. Their system is 4-4-2. Their star players are Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton) and Hordur Bjorgvin Magnusson (Bristol City).

Belgium qualified with 22 points from eight games and finished winners of European Group H ahead of Greece. Their system is 3-4-2-1. Their star players are Eden Hazard (Chelsea) and Thomas Meunier (Paris St-Germain).

Spain, the 2010 winners, qualified with a game to spare as winners of European Group G ahead of Italy. Their system is 4-5-1. Their star players are David Silva (Manchester City) and Isco (Real Madrid).

England were in the easiest European Group F and did not lose a game - winning 8 and drawing 2 ahead of Slovakia. Their system is 3-4-2-1. Their star players are Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) and Marcus Rashford (Manchester United).

Poland, with 25 points, finished as winners of European Group E ahead of Denmark. Their system is 4-2-3-1. Their star players are Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) and Piotr Zielinski (Napoli).

Serbia finished top of European group D with 19 points ahead of the Republic of Ireland. Their system is 3-4-3. Their star players are Nemanja Matic (Manchester United) and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio).

2014 World Cup Winners Germany qualified with 30 points. They won all 10 of their games and finished winners of European Group C ahead of Northern Ireland. Their system is 4-2-3-1. Their star players are Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) and Leon Goretzka (Schalke).

The European champions Portugal finished winners of European Group B ahead of Switzerland. Their system is 4-4-2. Their star players are Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) and Bernardo Silva (Manchester City).

France qualified easily as winners of European Group A ahead of Sweden. Their systems are 4-4-2 and 4-3-3. Their star players are Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid) and Kylian Mbappé (Paris St-Germain).

Switzerland finished second in European Group B behind Portugal then won a play-off against Northern Ireland - Northern Ireland  0 Switzerland  1 (0–1,0–0). Their system is 4-5-1. Their star players are Granit Xhaka (Arsenal) and Denis Zakaria (Borussia Mönchengladbach).

Croatia finished second in European Group I behind Iceland, then won a play-off against Greece - Croatia 4 Greece 1 (4–1,0–0). Their system is 4-2-3-1. Their star players are Luka Modric (Real Madrid) and Nikola Vlasic (Everton).

Denmark finished second in European Group E behind Poland, then won a play off against the Republic of Ireland - Denmark 5 Republic of Ireland 1 (0–0,5-1). Their system is 4-3-3. Their star players are Christian Eriksen (Tottenham Hotspur) and Thomas Delaney (Werder Bremen).

Sweden finished Second in European Group A behind France, then won a play-off against Italy - Sweden 1 Italy 0 (1–0,0–0). Their system is 4-4-2 and their star players are Emil Forsberg (RB Leipzig and Viktor Claesson (Krasnodar).