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 – Group A: Qatar/Ecuador/Senegal/Netherlands
Qatar are making their first appearance at the World Cup by virtue of being the hosts. They look like they could be one of the weaker sides in the competition having failed to make much of an impression in friendlies against other sides who have qualified for the tournament.
The Netherlands qualified for Qatar as group winners after securing a 2-0 victory at home to Norway during the final round of matches. They scored 33 goals during the UEFA qualification stages, and then followed this up by booking their place in the UEFA Nations League semi-finals during an unbeaten Group A4 campaign.
Senegal had one of the more dramatic routes to Qatar after controversially beating Egypt on penalties, mirroring their African Cup of Nations success at the start of 2022. The Lions are the highest ranked African side in the competition and boast the experienced trio of Idrissa Gueye, Cheikhou Kouyate & Sadio Mane, who have a total of 269 International caps between them.
Ecuador finished fourth in CONMEBOL qualifying, narrowly pipping both Peru & Colombia to a World Cup spot despite picking up just three points from their final four group games. They have struggled to find both form and goals this year, they haven’t scored more than once their previous nine matches.
Dutch striker Memphis Depay was the joint top scorer (alongside Harry Kane) throughout UEFA qualifying, he also achieved the same feat during the group stages of the UEFA Nations League. If he manages to fully recover from the hamstring injury he picked up in September then it will be hard to look past them being the top scorers in their group.
Traders’ Tip: Group A – Highest Scoring Team - Netherlands @ 6/10. A £10 bet at these odds could return £16
World Cup – Group B: England/Iran/United States/Wales
England qualified for the World Cup as group winners, meaning they have won their seven previous UEFA qualification groups for major tournaments. The only defeat they have suffered over 57 qualifying games during this time period was a 2-1 defeat to Czech Republic back in 2019.
They haven’t always been able to continue this form into the final stages of a tournament, but they were beaten finalists at Euro 2020, and semi-finalists at the 2018 World Cup. Their winless run during the UEFA Nations League this year might be a cause for concern, especially the nature of their 4-0 home defeat to Hungary in June.
Wales were the only side that fared worse than England in the UEFA Nations League, picking up just one point during their League A campaign, but they will be hoping to draw on the form they displayed in qualifying for their first World Cup since 1958, which culminated in a 1-0 play-off victory in Cardiff against Ukraine.
Iran qualified for their third straight World Cup after cruising through their two AFC qualifying groups, conceding just five goals in 18 matches. They have a highly experienced coach in Carlos Queiroz, and their three strikers Karim Ansarifard, Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi have 98 International goals between them. Their last World Cup appearance saw them narrowly eliminated from a group containing both Spain and Portugal.
United States got through CONCACAF qualifying on goal difference, but their route was effectively sealed with a match to spare. The States are the current CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions, after beating Mexico 1-0 in the final last year. They had made seven straight World Cup appearances before missing out in 2018, progressing from the group stage on four occasions.
Based on FIFA Rankings this is arguably one of the toughest groups, with all four teams currently ranked inside the top 20. Both European teams have been in pretty poor form and there’s every chance that a disciplined Iran could take full advantage of this and make it through to the last 16.
Traders’ Tip: Group B – To Qualify - Iran @ 4/1. A £10 bet at these odds could return £50
World Cup – Group C: Argentina/Saudi Arabia/Mexico/Poland
Argentina breezed through CONMEBOL qualifying with an unbeaten record, finishing as runners up to Brazil. The two-time World Cup winners won the Copa America in 2021 and come in to this tournament on an unbeaten run that stretches back to July 2019. Lionel Messi is included in the Argentine squad and this will likely be the last chance for him to win the one major trophy that has eluded him during his illustrious career.
Saudi Arabia will be making their sixth appearance at the World Cup. They had gone 12 matches at the tournament without a win before a dramatic injury time winner against Egypt kept them off the bottom of Group A in 2018. They come in to the competition after topping their AFC qualifying group ahead of both Japan and Australia.
Mexico will be making their 17th appearance at the World Cup, but they have the unwanted record of being the only team with more than 15 appearances who have yet to win the competition. They are also one of two teams who have made the World Cup at least 10 times without progressing past the quarter finals.
Poland qualified for Qatar via a 2-0 play off victory over Sweden in March, they have one of the world’s most prolific strikers in Robert Lewandowski, who scored nine times during their qualifying campaign, but they have only managed to make it out of the group stage in one of their last seven appearances in major tournaments.
Argentina are strong favourites to win Group C, whilst Saudi Arabia are expected to finish bottom of the group. That should leave a straight shoot-out between Poland and Mexico for second place. Given that Mexico have managed to progress to the Round of 16 in each of the last seven tournaments we fancy them to make it eight in a row by progressing alongside Argentina.
Traders’ Tip: Group C – Advancing Double – Argentina & Mexico @ 13/10. A £10 bet at these odds could return £23
World Cup – Group D: France/Australia/Denmark/Tunisia
France enter the 2022 World Cup as defending champions, having beaten Croatia 4-2 in the 2018 Final. They managed to top UEFA Qualifying Group D en-route to Qatar, conceding just three times and remaining unbeaten in their eight matches.
Despite having the threat of Griezmann, Benzema and Mbappe, they only managed 18 goals during their qualification campaign (eight of those coming in an 8-0 victory over Kazakhstan), and they narrowly avoided relegation from League A of the UEFA Nations League earlier this year.
Australia sealed their place in Qatar after beating Peru on penalties in an inter-confederation play-off in June. This will be the Socceroos sixth appearance at the World Cup, but they have only managed to advance beyond the group stage once.
Denmark eased through their UEFA qualification group, winning their opening nine matches before a 2-0 loss to Scotland on the final matchday. The 30 goals they scored during qualifying was their best ever haul during a qualification campaign for a major tournament, and they head to Qatar following their semi-final appearance at Euro 2020.
Tunisia beat Mali 1-0 on aggregate to qualify for the World Cup, however, they struggled to make an impression at the African Cup of Nations, losing to both Gambia and Mali during the group stage, and then to Burkina Faso in the quarter finals. This will be their sixth appearance at the World Cup, but they are yet to progress beyond the group stages.
France, Denmark and Australia also met in the group stages four years ago, whilst Australia had to beat the other team they faced (Peru) in order to qualify this time around. On that occasion France came out on top ahead of Denmark, and we see no reason why that won’t be the case again this time around.
Traders’ Tip: Group D – Straight Forecast – France/Denmark @ 1/1. A £10 bet at these odds could return £20
World Cup – Group E: Spain/Costa Rica/Germany/Japan
Alvaro Morata’s 86th minute winner against Sweden ensured that Spain avoided a potential play-off and qualified as group winners. After winning the World Cup in 2010 they have failed to make it beyond the round of 16 in the last two tournaments, however, Luis Enrique’s men look well placed for a decent run this time around having reached the semi finals of Euro 2020 and also booking their place in the last four of the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League.
Germany also progressed as qualifying group winners. Their path was a lot smoother though, finishing nine points ahead of second placed North Macedonia. 2018 was the first time they had failed to make it out of the initial group stages at the World Cup, but new coach Hansi Flick will be hoping for a much better performance this time around.
Costa Rica needed a 1-0 victory over New Zealand in the inter-confederation play-off to make it to a third successive World Cup. They are currently the outsiders of the tournament and will need to draw on the experience of Celso Borges & Bryan Ruiz if they want to avoid an early exit.
Japan finished second in their AFC qualifying group to book a 7th consecutive tournament appearance. They have never reached the last eight of the competition and have arguably been given their toughest group to date.
Spain and Germany both have a lot to prove after disappointing performances in 2018 and either side could easily come out on top of this group. Japan boast a handful of Bundesliga players amongst their squad, and they will be hopeful that they could enter their final group match against Spain with their own destiny in their hands.
Costa Rica are a shadow of the side who famously topped a World Cup group containing Italy, Uruguay and England back in 2014. An injury time own goal against Switzerland prevented them from ending up without a single point four years ago, this time around there’s a very strong chance that they might not be as fortunate.
Traders’ Tip: Group Points Costa Rica – 0 Points @ 15/8. A £10 bet at these odds could return £28.75
World Cup – Group F: Belgium/Canada/Morocco/Croatia
Belgium qualified for the World Cup after topping UEFA Qualifying Group E with a game to spare following a 3-1 victory over Estonia last November. Roberto Martinez guided them to third place at the 2018 World Cup and the second best ranked side in the world will be hoping to reach the latter stages once again this time around.
Croatia, who were beaten finalists in 2018, won UEFA Qualifying Group H to book their place in Qatar, but only five players from the team that started in Moscow will be in the squad this time around. They look set to be potential dark horses once more though as they have successfully topped a group containing both Denmark and France to reach the semi finals of the UEFA Nations League.
Morocco were arguably the side with the most convincing CAF qualifying campaign. After winning all six of their matches during the group stage, they overcame DR Congo 5-2 on aggregate in the final qualifying round to reach the World Cup for a sixth time. Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech is one of only six outfield players who was also in the Moroccan squad that finished bottom of Group B in the World Cup four years ago.
Canada are perhaps the surprise qualifiers of the competition. Les Rouges topped the CONCACAF qualifying group to secure only their second appearance in the tournament. The last time they appeared at the World Cup was in Mexico, they will be hoping to fare much better than the team that lost all three of their group games, without scoring a goal, 36 years ago.
Belgium were top scorers in the group stages four years ago, they may find their final match against Croatia a slightly tricky prospect, but with a squad containing Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne & Michy Batshuayi they should have more than enough firepower to outscore the other sides in Group F.
Traders’ Tip: Group F – Highest Scoring Team - Belgium @ 7/10. A £10 bet at these odds could return £17
World Cup – Group G: Brazil/Serbia/Switzerland/Cameroon
Brazil cruised their way through CONMEBOL qualifying, winning 14 of their 17 matches and conceding just five times in the process. The number one ranked team in the world have lost just one competitive match since reaching the quarter finals of the last World Cup, a 1-0 defeat to Argentina in the final of the Copa America.
Switzerland won UEFA Qualifying Group C to make it to Qatar, conceding just twice in eight matches. Despite making 16 previous appearances, the penalty shoot-out victory over France in Bucharest last year was their first knockout stage progression in either a World Cup or European Championship Finals since beating Germany in 1938.
Serbia also booked their place at the World Cup as group winners, topping UEFA Qualifying Group A ahead of Portugal. All-time leading goalscorer Aleksandar Mitrovic will be hoping his fine run of domestic scoring form will help guide his country out of the group stage for the first time since 1998.
Cameroon secured their place in Qatar after knocking out Algeria on away goals during CAF Qualifying. Despite being set to make their eighth appearance, the Indomitable Lions have progressed beyond the group stages on one previous occasion. They have won just one of their 15 World Cup matches since their run to the quarter finals at Italia ’90, that being a 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in 2002.
Even though both Switzerland and Serbia managed to navigate their qualification groups unbeaten they face fierce opposition against an impressive looking Brazil side. The South Americans have topped each of their last 10 World Cup groups, and there are no signs that they will let that run end in Qatar. We fancy them to win all three of their group matches with relative ease this time around.
Traders’ Tip: - Group Points Brazil – 9 Points @ 2/1. A £10 bet at these odds could return £30
World Cup – Group H: Portugal/Ghana/Uruguay/South Korea
Portugal needed a play-off victory over North Macedonia to qualify for Qatar, after finishing runners up to Serbia during the UEFA qualifying stage. This will possibly be the last World Cup appearances for the trio of Ronaldo, Rui Patricio and Pepe, and all three will be hoping to guide their country beyond the Round of 16 for the first time since reaching the semi finals in 2006.
Ghana enter this World Cup as the worst ranked side in the competition. They currently sit 61st in the FIFA rankings, ten places below Saudi Arabia. They reached the final CAF qualifying round ahead of South Africa by virtue of goals scored, where they needed away goals to sneak past Nigeria and secure their fourth World Cup appearance.
Uruguay were in real danger of missing out on a World Cup appearance following a 3-0 defeat to Bolivia in November of last year, but a run of four straight victories eventually led them to third in the CONMEBOL qualifying group and an automatic place in the draw for Qatar. They have made it out of their group in each of the last three tournaments, including their run to the semi-final in 2010.
South Korea booked their spot after finishing second to Iran in AFC qualifying Group A. This will be their 10th straight appearance at the World Cup, but they have exited at the group stage seven times during this period.
Portugal and Uruguay should have too much for both Ghana and South Korea in this group and are both expected to make it to the last 16 as a result. The showdown on November 28th is likely to determine which side will finish bottom of Group H, and if South Korea pick up the victory there it’s difficult to look past the African side finishing the tournament without a single point.
Traders’ Tip: Group Points Ghana – 0 Points @ 11/2. A £10 bet at these odds could return £65
*Odds correct at time of publishing. Available to UK residents (excluding Northern Ireland) aged 18+ only. T&Cs apply. www.BeGambleAware.org