With the opening game of this year’s World Cup less than 10 days away, here are three teams you must bet on to win their World Cup groups.
We are not going to choose any obvious teams as all the obvious ones have super low betting odds and represent zero value.
Outsiders are the way to approach the group betting market, or else focusing on a tight group with two favorites, and hopefully picking the right one.
Group H
Portugal – Ghana – Korea Republic – Uruguay
- • Group Winner Pick: Uruguay (+200) at Bet365
Right now Uruguay seem like a lot better value than Portugal to win this group. The team from south America are one of the most physical and gritty teams heading into this World Cup. They always have been.
Not only does this team boast a strong work ethic but they also have many star players and a lot of veterans who are still in the squad and pulling their weight with the likes of Luis Suarez, captain Diego Godin and Edinson Cavani.
This team can play tough physical soccer and they love a scrap, as well as being able to defend an attack. We are really surprised they are such outsiders compared to Portugal, but we believe this to be European bias because for us, Uruguay are the much scariest team to face.
We can’t forget they boast some current Premier League players in their squad, like Darwin Nunez (Liverpool) and Rodrigo Bentancur (Tottenham). That’s not to mention the other 11 players of the 26-man squad plying their trade across some of Europe’s top leagues.
The data gives them a 26% chance of topping the group compared to Portugal’s 55%, we beg to differ.
Group D
France – Denmark – Australia – Tunisia
- • Group Winner Pick: Denmark (+275) at Bet365
This Danish team are very underestimated in this spot, topping the group doesn’t always lead to the easier route to the final. Of course, France will want to top the group but they would take second if given to them.
Australia and Tunisia are given virtually no hope of making it into the knockout stages having been drawn into such a tough group, with the data giving Australia a 5% chance and Tunisia 4.5%.
Denmark put up a magnificent performance in Euro 2020, making it all the way to the Semi-finals without Christian Eriksen (who suffered a heart attack during an earlier game in the tournament).
The Dans also scored an impressive 30 goals in qualification whilst only conceding on three occasions. This team are no pushovers and will fight hard to win this group. Both France and Denmark were drawn into the same group during the previous World Cup where they drew 0-0 during their matchup.
Denmark will be led by Cristian Erickson and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the middle of the field, let’s not forget Denmark beat this French team TWICE this year in the Nations League. We like their chances of topping this group at WC odds of +275.
Group B
England – Iran – USA – Wales
- • Group Winner Pick: Iran (+1600) at Bet365
Although many of you might read this and have a good chuckle, remember one thing here, Iran are a defensively sound team and have an excellent Portuguese coach in the form of Carlos Queiroz who has been Portugal and Real Madrid manager as well as 5 years assist manager at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Queiroz was Iran’s manager from 2011 to 2019 (the team had a 60% win rate and a +121 goal difference under Queiroz during this period) and he was brought back into the job in September of this year.
We can’t forget Porto striker Mehdi Taremi, who is by far Iran’s best player and has scored 28 goals in 58 games for his country.
Iran will play defensive football under this coach, which suits tournament-style football, although they are really up against it in this group, we can’t see them getting pummelled, and all they need is one win to be in with a realistic chance.
Extra Notable Value Picks
• Group B: USA (+550) at Bet365
• Group E: Germany (+110) at Bet365
• Group G: Switzerland (+450) with Bet365
