World Cup 2022 Odds: The Top 10 Favourites for Qatar

Brazil – 6/1

Brazil are close to cementing top spot in the South American Qualifying campaign and they look to be a side with decent balance about them. The last competition they were involved in they reached the final of the Copa America but ultimately lost to fierce rivals Argentina.

I’m slightly surprised to see them as the favourites to win the trophy. It’s been 20 years since the Seleção lifted the Jules Rimet trophy and since then it’s been dominated by Europe with Brazil failing to even reach a final since South Korea/Japan ’02.

France – 7/1

Current holders France are chalked up as slight second favourites in the market and rightly so you’d say. Les Bleus have probably the most dangerous frontman in the world in Kylian Mbappe, as well stacks of strength in depth all over the team. The emergence of William Saliba may see him edge his way into the starting XI come the winter but competition for places at centre half is rife.

If they are weak in any position it’s potentially full back; it will be interesting to see if Didier Deschamps opts for a back three to make use of the plentiful centre back options and then he can use Kingsley Coman and Jonathan Clauss as wing backs to add greater attacking potency to the side. They have course and distance under Deschamps and in my opinion should probably be favourites.

Spain – 9/1

Spain saw their golden generation of 2008-2012 scoop two European Championships and a World Cup. There’s talk in the country that a new breed of high calibre player are breaking through and with the likes of Barcelona quartet Pedri, Gavi, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres, as well as Yeremy Pino and Dani Olmo all aged 23 or under it is an exciting time to be a La Roja fan.

They know how to control games and with Sergio Busquets dictating play from deep they’re a team many will struggle to get the better of. At the Euros they did show they have defensive lapses in concentration and it’s at the back where I would worry about this team although their credentials to go far are fully merited. 

Germany – 10/1 

Joachim Low has now departed the German national team to be replaced by Hansi Flick. You could say that the German golden generation replaced Spain around 2012 to 2018 but since then they’ve struggled to find the winning mentality to carry them far into tournaments. 

Die Mannschaft have struggled to find a true number nine for a while now but with Kai Havertz improving all the time, Flick may try shape the team around the Chelsea man. It does seem like this side are stuck between two generations though and against the elite they may come unstuck.

England – 10/1

England look a fairly generous price at 10/1 to win the World Cup. The Three Lions were a whisker away from glory at the Euros but hopefully Gareth Southgate and his players have learnt from previous mistakes. They are now a bit bolder and play with greater belief in the high stake encounters. It’s been gradual development under Southgate and this group look to get on better than any other England side for a long time which is a huge bonus.

Tammy Abraham looks like a superb option to battle with Harry Kane for the gig up front and then there are plenty of options in the roles behind with Phil Foden and Jack Grealish likely to be key as well as Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho.

Defensively England actually did very well in both of the last two tournaments but it’s perhaps at centre half where the weakness is. Harry Maguire hasn’t been in good nick for a while and John Stones isn’t a regular starter for Manchester City. Perhaps Ben White can nudge his way in to the starting XI after shining for Arsenal.

Argentina – 11/1

Outside of the top five in the betting you have Argentina (11/1) who again have plenty of questions defensively and their star man in Lionel Messi is seeing his sheer brilliance ever so slightly diminish while Sergio Aguero is now retired. Although they won the Copa America recently it’s hard to see how that defence will cope with the best attacks in the world.

Belgium 14/1

Belgium have been the punters fancy for the last few tournaments and they’ve generally done well up until quarter final and semi final stages. Eden Hazard has hardly played for Real Madrid while Romelu Lukaku will have to nudge his way back into the Chelsea starting line-up in order to get up to speed again. Defensively they have been ageing for a long time and there doesn’t look to be many who can make the step up yet. The Red Devils can be left alone at these quotes.

Netherlands - 18/1

The Netherlands were expected to flop at the Euros, mainly down to their manager being Frank De Boer. They had a very easy group to get by in but then were dumped out by Czech Republic so it probably did go down as a failure. 

Now the Oranje have Ronald Koeman in charge we can expect a bit better from them. The likes of Frenkie De Jong and Mattias De Ligt have had strong seasons under the radar and once a few more of their younger generation get experience under their belt they could be a force in years to come. However, this World Cup may come a bit too early for them.

Italy – 19/1

European Champions Italy will be interesting a few punters at attractive 19/1 quotes to go again and lift the World Cup but they will need to come through qualification first. Roberto Mancini clearly has the buy-in from his players but the fact they lost first place in qualifying to Switzerland should be a bit worrying for potential backers.

Because the Azzurri aren’t guaranteed to be in Qatar yet it’s a bit of a chance to get with them right now. If they do get there then old school centre halves Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci may see it as one competition too far.

Portugal 25/1

It's very hard to ever rule out Fernando Santos in a knockout competition. The highly experienced gaffer has won European titles with Greece and Portugal but is yet to win a World Cup. It could be the last major tournament for Cristiano Ronaldo but there’s a lot of talented younger players coming through the domestic division who can make the step up. 

Joao Felix, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Cancelo and Renato Sanches are all top performers on their day and if they can get past Turkey in the playoff they could give punters a nice run for their money.

World Cup 2022 Tips

After breaking down the top 10 sides in the World Cup winner market, I’ve opted for each-way bets on my favoured three. I’m backing both the new brigade in Spain and Gareth Southgate’s improving England to overcome any defensive shortcomings to go deep in the tournament, while Portugal – should they get through the qualifiers – will become great value at 25/1.