World Cup 2022 Odds: How the winner prices have changed over the last three years
There’s now just over 12 months until the first ever World Cup to take place in the winter commences in Qatar. This will also be the last tournament that features 32 teams with the format set to be switched to a 48-team field for the 2026 renewal across North America in Canada, Mexico and the USA.
The prospect of a World Cup final just seven days before Christmas is what football fans across the globe now have the prospect of with Qatar 2022 and with England reaching the semi-finals in 2018 before going one step further by reaching the finals of Euro 2020, expectation from the home faithful will no doubt be as high as ever.
We’ve taken a look at the five teams that are currently at the head of the betting to lift the 2022 World Cup and how their odds have changed over the last three years. You can see an overview of these odds movements over time on the graphic below.
Brazil - 6/1
Bet365 go 6/1 about Brazil lifting the World Cup for the sixth time in 2022. The South American side have featured in more World Cups than any other team over the years (20) and their price of around 6/1 has been fairly consistent over the last few years in the market with no major changes.
Brazil have lost just two games in the past 26 months, both of which came to their Latin American neighbours and rivals Argentina. One of those was a friendly and one was the Copa America final in 2021 which took place in Rio back in July.
The pair meet in World Cup qualifying on Tuesday evening and although both teams look like they will qualify with relative ease to the tournament, it could be a good indicator of where Tite’s side are at with them wanting to seek revenge for the Copa America defeat.
France - 6/1
2018 World Cup Winners France are also the joint-favourites to lift the Jules Rimet trophy in December next year. After their triumph in Russia, beating Croatia in the final, France opened as the favourites priced at 11/2 with most firms.
It’s not been all plain sailing though for Les Bleus in qualifying for the 2022 tournament with Didier Deschamps’ side failing to beat Luxembourg, Bosnia and the Ukraine. France still sit top of the group and should qualify barring no drastic shocks in Group D.
The French are the last nation to win the World Cup as the hosts back in 1998 and for those thinking of backing them this time round, 6/1 is currently available. Their price has been fairly stable over the last couple of years but with a disappointing exit in Euro 2020 to Switzerland, and with a few below-par performances in qualifying, the four time champions have drifted ever so slightly to a latest price of 6/1 in the market
England - 7/1
16/1 was available with BoyleSports shortly after the 2018 World Cup in which England reached the semi-finals before a 2-1 extra-time defeat to Croatia. Some fans still had questions about the strength of opposition the Three Lions had faced in that tournament which may have been the reason for what now looked like an inflated price.
Since then England have gone from strength to strength under Gareth Southgate and with an exciting bunch of young players they gave the nation a summer to remember by reaching the finals of last summer’s European Championships.
Off the back of their first major final since 1966 England’s odds have now plummeted in just 7/1 with bet365 with England sat top of their qualifying group with 20 points from eight games. A European nation has won the past four World Cups and England will be hoping that they can go one step further this time round in Qatar.
Spain - 7/1
Spain’s only World Cup triumph came in 2010 with their golden generation winning three consecutive major tournaments under the guidance of Luis Aragones and Vicente del Bosque. Since lifting the trophy eleven years ago Spain have performed poorly at the World Cup, crashing out of the 2014 renewal of the group stage before fairing slightly better in 2018 by reaching the Round of 16.
In the most recent European Championships, Spain reached the semi-final only to have their hopes crushed in a dramatic penalty shoot-out against Italy. Spain have been no bigger than 9/1 since the winner market opened three years ago for the 2022 World Cup, and with talented young players such as Gavi and Pedri coming into the national side, the current 7/1 doesn’t look the worst price for a team that feel like they are an upward trajectory.
Germany - 10/1
After 15 years with Joachim Low at the helm, Germany are finally under a new era with Hansi Flick now in charge of the national side. Only Brazil have lifted the trophy more times than Germany in the history of the competition (4), with their most recent victory coming in 2014 when beating Argentina 1-0 in the final thanks to a Mario Gotze goal in extra-time.
Germany are one of the sides who have drifted in the World Cup 2022 winner market over the last few years. When the market opened up in 2018 Germany had been priced at around 7/1 with most bookmakers but after being dumped out of the Euros in the Round of 16 by England they have now drifted out to the double figure price of 10/1, which implies just a 9% of being victorious in Qatar.
You can find a full list of odds for the 2022 tournament below.
