2022 World Cup Opening Odds and Best Bets
It has been a week since the group stage draw for the 2022 World Cup set to take place in Qatar. The tournament will kick off on November 21st, 2022, and will conclude with the final being played on December 18th, 2022. The sportsbooks have had time to set the odds, and they see Brazil as the favorite at +500.
Following Brazil is England at +650, a team that’s looking to build off of a semifinal run in the 2018 edition of the tournament. England made it to the Euro 2020 Championship and fell short to Italy, who won by penalties after a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes. Speaking of Italy, they didn’t play well enough in the qualifiers to make the World Cup this year.
France also has odds at +650 entering the tournament. They’re the reigning champs as they won the 2018 World Cup, beating Croatia 4-2 in the final and adding another star to their national jerseys.
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2022 World Cup Odds – Outright Winner
- Brazil (+500)
- England (+650)
- France (+650)
- Spain (+900)
- Argentina (+1000)
- Germany (+1100)
- Belgium (+1200)
- Netherlands (+1400)
- Denmark (+3200)
- Uruguay (+6000)
- Croatia (+6600)
- Switzerland (+8000)
- Senegal (+10000)
- Mexico (+11000)
- Poland (+11000)
- Serbia (+11000)
- USA (+11000)
- Ecuador (+15000)
- Canada (+20000)
- Japan (+21000)
- Peru (+21000)
- Morocco (+25000)
- Wales (+25000)
- Cameroon (+30000)
- Ghana (+30000)
- Qatar (+30000)
- Scotland (+40000)
- Tunisia (+40000)
- Ukraine (+40000)
- Australia (+50000)
- Iran (+55000)
- Saudi Arabia (+55000)
- Costa Rica (+75000)
- New Zealand (+100000)
- United Arab Emirates (+100000)
Best Bet to Win Outright
England has a young roster heading into the 2022 World Cup. But they’re an experienced team as they made the deep run in 2018, and they were a couple of penalty kicks away from winning the Euro 2020 Championship last year. They’ll return key players from the 2018 run in Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Jordan Pickford.
Many of these players are household names across England as well as the World. They’re keeping their form every week, playing against the best competition in the world in the EPL. In my opinion, this is a team set to make another deep run as each player on the roster continues to develop into their respective primes.
Gareth Southgate returns as the manager of England’s national team, and he’s been at the helm since 2016. He has good chemistry with these players and plenty of experience in the lead role. I believe The Three Lions have an excellent opportunity to advance through the tournament and ultimately bring home a title. They’re a heavy favorite at -240 to win a Group B shared with the USA (+700), Iran (+1100), and the European playoff winner between Ukraine, Scotland, and Wales. Once England’s through to the knockout round, they’ll have as good a chance as anyone to advance through the tournament. And I believe they boast a good enough roster to compete to win the 2022 World Cup.
Bet: England +650
Best Dark Horse Bet
The German national team has the sixth-highest odds (+1100) to win the tournament this upcoming year. Only a handful of teams genuinely have a chance to win the tournament, so while they don’t have the odds of a traditional dark horse, I am considering them one in this situation.
Germany has won the World Cup four times over the tournament’s history, its most recent championship in 2014. The Germans are returning a couple of key players from that team in Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller. Neuer will handle the goaltending responsibilities, and he’s still arguably one of the best and brightest goalies in the world, even this late in his career. Muller still brings the striking ability upfront for the Germans and has excellent leadership skills.
Aside from the seasoned veterans, this team will be comprised of up-and-comers in Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, and Leroy Sane. There is plenty of firepower in the lineup, and I think if they can put it all together, they have a genuine opportunity to win the tournament.
Hansi Flick has taken over as manager of Germany heading into the 2022 World Cup. He’s widely considered one of the greatest German coaches of all time, assisting on the 2014 World Cup team, going 70-9-7 at Bayern Munich, and he’s started 8-1-0 as the shot caller of the national team. He has chemistry with a lot of these players, and with his track record on the pitch, it’s hard to say that he won’t have this team ready for a title run in 2022.
Germany will have a good test in the group stage as they’ll take on Spain. Spain is a slight favorite at -115 to win Group E while the Germans come back at +115. They shouldn’t have a hard time advancing through to the knockout round as they’re joined by Japan (+1300) and the winner of Costa Rica and New Zealand in an intercontinental playoff match. Then it’s time to ramp it up and compete. The team’s core will be up for the challenge as they don’t have many more bullets in the chamber when it comes to the World Cup.
Bet: Germany +1100
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Trenton Pruitt is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Trenton, check out his archive.