The DAZN Bet Trading Team provide you with their top picks for the pre-event World Cup markets.
Odds* provided by DAZN Bet.
World Cup 2022 - Winner
We start our first ever ‘winter’ World Cup when Qatar & Ecuador kick off on Sunday afternoon.
Brazil enter the tournaments as favourites after cruising through their CONMEBOL qualifying campaign, remaining unbeaten throughout. They're the only country to have appeared at every World Cup to date and they'll be hoping to improve on their run to the quarter-finals four years ago where they were beaten 2-1 by Belgium.
Fellow South Americans Argentina are the current second favourites having won the 2021 Copa America, and also having gone through CONMEBOL qualifying unbeaten. They were runners-up in the World Cup in 2014, the only time they've progressed past the quarter-finals since Italia ’90.
Reigning champions France are third favourites. They're one of five European teams who went through the entire UEFA qualifying stages unbeaten, and they will be hoping to improve on their disappointing Round of 16 exit at Euro 2020, especially with the current Ballon d’Or holder, Karin Benzema, leading their attack.
Beaten 2018 World Cup semi-finalists and Euro 2020 finalists England will be hoping they can emulate the success of the women’s team and ‘Bring Football Home’ once again.
Spain make up the ‘best of the rest’ on the back of a decent qualifying campaign following their run to the semi-finals of Euro 2020. Their victory in 2010 was the only time they've made it past the quarter-finals in their last 11 attempts.
For us it’s hard to look past the favourites taking the trophy back to South America, they have once again managed to find themselves at the top of the FIFA rankings, and they come to the World Cup on the back of arguably their best ever qualifying performance, in terms of points, goal scoring and defensive strength. If they can transfer that form across to Qatar then they could prove to be a very difficult side to beat.
Traders’ Tip: World Cup 2022 Winner - Brazil @ 4/1. A £10 bet at these odds could return £50.
World Cup – Golden Boot
Harry Kane enters the tournament as the favourite for the Golden Boot having topped the scoring charts in 2018. The England striker currently lies second in the Premier League top scoring charts this season, but he has just one goal in his last six games for his country.
Despite sharing 12 Ballon d’Or awards between them, neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi have ever won the Golden Boot award.
Ronaldo has only scored a few times for Manchester United so far this season, along with just two goals in his last seven for Portugal. Messi, on the other hand, has found his scoring form for PSG, and has netted seven times in his last three outings for Argentina.
French striker Kylian Mbappe has pretty much been scoring at a rate of a goal per game for PSG, whilst fellow countryman and Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema has only managed to find the net on a handful of occasions this season, after scoring 50 times for club and country during the 2021/22 campaign.
We fancy giving the nod to Neymar. The Brazilian has already surpassed his tally of goals from last season, and has netted four times in the last four appearances for his country. Should he manage three goals during the tournament then he will surpass Pele as Brazil’s all time leading scorer.
That extra incentive, along with their fairly generous looking group opposition, should offer him plenty of opportunities to get goals.
Traders’ Tip: World Cup Golden Boot Winner – Neymar Jr. @ 12/1. A £10 bet at these odds could return £130
*Odds correct at time of publishing. Available to UK residents (excluding Northern Ireland) aged 18+ only. T&Cs apply. www.BeGambleAware.org