WC football | The group of top favorites has not changed since the days of Pelé and Maradona, will Kane be the gunner?

Who is the favorite for the WC 2022? The composition of the group of top favorites is very traditional to conservative.

“Since the times of Pelé and Maradona, it has always been the same – Brazil, Argentina and then France, England, Spain, Germany. I would look for unspoken ‘secret’ favorites around the odds of 15:1 between the trio of Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal,” advises Petr Urbanec, soccer bookmaker at Tipsport.

“Usually, we are not too wrong when choosing the favorites for the winner of big championships like the World Cup, there are no big surprises. Would Canada win the WC 2022? That would have to freeze everything first, which is not a threat in Qatar,” adds Urbanec with exaggeration about the hockey powerhouse’s ambitions at the football championship.

“On paper, the Brazilian national team should have the best chance of winning. Only in the attack will such stars as Neymar, Vinícius Junior or Rodrygo be introduced, it is difficult to find any weakness in the team. The Brazilians could thus win their sixth trophy after twenty years. They haven’t reached the finals since 2002, so the motivation this year, especially in such a lineup, will be more than enough,” points out Michal Hanák, Fortuna’s main bookmaker.

“France, which is also a candidate for gold this year, could make it difficult for them to win the trophy. The final pair of Brazil – France at odds of 18:1 is perhaps worth a bit of the risk,” says Hanák.

In any case, the bettors’ deposits are spread very widely. 20% trust England, 17% Brazil, 14% Spain and 11% Argentina. France and Portugal account for 7% each, Germany and Portugal account for 6%.

“Bettors haven’t found their clear favourite, so more conservative players quite often try betting on which continent the winning team will be from. Eight of the top ten potential winners are from Europe. But South America is represented by Brazil and Argentina. A bet on the success of the South Americans at odds of 3.25:1 is thus a fairly frequent variant,” Hanák mentions.

What do punters bet on most often: 1. England – Iran (over 350 thousand), 2. who will become champion, 3. Argentina – S. Arabia, 4. Brazil – Serbia, 5. Portugal – Ghana, 6. Belgium – Canada and 7. Germany – Japan.

“The highest amount so far appears on a ticket in our country for the match between Argentina and Saudi Arabia, on which one fan bet 50 thousand crowns,” reports Markéta Světlíková, spokeswoman for Chance. Another high bet for ten thousand crowns was on Spain’s victory and he bet the same amount another bettor that the best team from the AFC confederation will be South Korea.

“When it comes to the opening matches of the World Cup, 99% of the bets are on the favorites to win,” added Urbanec.

There will undoubtedly be a big battle for the best scorer of the tournament. According to bookmakers, Harry Kane from England (9:1), Kilian Mbappe from France (9:1), Lionel Messi from Argentina (12:1) and Neymar from Brazil (14:1) have the best chances. The struggling Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal can take the world by surprise at odds of 16:1. Of course, Karim Benzema from France (14:1) also belonged to the favorites, but an injury ultimately deprived him of the championship.

“Betting on a goalscorer is often tricky, the success of an individual depends on the performance of the team and how far they go in the tournament. Harry Kane definitely has the best cards dealt. England will play ‘on him’, penalties will be his discipline, and Albion’s players should clearly dominate in Group B. The Tottenham striker is also in great form. Betting on the favorite could pay off this time, the odds of 9:1 are definitely worth a try,” advises Hanák.