WhoScored.com think Portugal are best to avoid despite shortening in the World Cup 2022 odds, while France will have to defy recent history to defend their title.
Confidence in Portugal rising
Portugal did what they had to do to secure a playoff final spot as they beat Turkey 3-1 in Porto, though they did ride their luck with Burak Yilmaz missing an 84th-minute penalty that would have levelled things on the night. Nevertheless, victory saw them set up a meeting with North Macedonia, who shocked Italy to win 1-0 in Palermo courtesy of Aleksandar Trajkovski's late strike.
North Macedonia have sprung an upset or two in the last 12 months, beating Germany and Euro 2020 winners Italy, but the general consensus at WhoScored.com is that Portugal - given their attacking firepower - will be a bridge too far for the Lynxes.
With results going their way, A Selecao have moved in to a best price of 20/1 (14/1 in places) to win the World Cup in Qatar, making them the sixth favourites to lift the trophy for the first time.
Betfred
- Huge range of regular promotions
- 24/7 live chat service
- PickYourPunt builder for custom bets
Now, that may be tempting to back given the raft of talent at Fernando Santos' disposal, but as we saw at Euro 2020, a stunning collective of individuals doesn't always result in silverware.
Portugal have qualified for every World Cup since 2002, but their best performance in their last five World Cups amounts to a fourth-placed finish at Germany 2006.
They bowed out at the group stages in Brazil and were knocked out in the last-16 in South Africa and Russia. As tempting as it may be to back Portugal now ahead of an expected win over North Macedonia, Santos' side are perhaps one to avoid.
Will football come home this year?
Few would have backed England to fail to qualify from their qualifying group as the Three Lions picked up 26 points from their 10 matches. England dropped points against both Poland and Hungary, yet they eased to Qatar 2022.
The Euro 2020 runners up will have an additional 18 months’ worth of experience between them by the time November rolls around, with the likes of youngsters Bukayo Saka, Conor Gallagher, Declan Rice and Phil Foden all continuing to shine for their club sides.
Gareth Southgate has already been one of England's most successful managers having guided the Three Lions to back-to-back semi-finals, firstly in Russia four years ago before going one better last summer only to fall to defeat to Italy at Wembley. England have never exactly set the world alight on the international stage, yet they are among the favourites to win the World Cup at a best price of 8/1.
They have failed to make it out of the group stage just once since France 1998. After semi-final and final heartache in 2018 and 2021, respectively, England will hope to go all the way in 2022.
Can France overcome defending champions curse?
France are the second favourites (7/1) to win the World Cup this year. Les Bleus beat Croatia 4-2 in the Moscow final four years ago, but they'll be out to avoid history repeating itself in Qatar.
After winning the World Cup in 1998, they failed to make it out of the group stage in 2002. A 1-0 loss to Senegal in their opening game in Seoul set the tone for a miserable campaign for France.
In fact, including 2002, four of the last five World Cup winners have failed to make it out of the group stages, Brazil in 2006 the exception prior to their quarter-final exit in Germany at the hands of France.
2018 saw Germany fail to advance beyond the group stages for the first time in their history as they endured a dire defence of the crown. No pressure then, France...
Brazil to Samba their way to a record setting sixth title?
Brazil's qualifying campaign has gone according to plan. They sit top of CONMEBOL, winning 13 and drawing three of their 16 matches, and have made it beyond the group stages on each of their last 12 World Cup appearances stretching back to Mexico 1970, which they won.
In addition, they have made it to at least the semi-finals in seven of those 12 appearances. And given the raft of talent running through the squad, it's no surprise to see them installed as 11/2 favourites to win the World Cup.
Tite's side have scored more goals (36) and conceded fewer (five) than any other team in CONMEBOL qualifying as they have struck the right balance in both attack and defence, which is to be expected considering the quality in personnel.
Indeed, in their resounding 4-0 win over Chile in midweek, established stars Arthur, Alex Telles, Rodrygo and Eder Militao were all unused subs, which speaks volumes about the immense strength in depth at Tite's disposal as they seek a sixth World Cup win.
