World Cup 2022 Odds: Brazil and France favoured to reach the final
The 2022 World Cup is rapidly approaching and the bookmakers have released a wide variety of betting markets for us to enjoy.
This time we're looking at the odds on who could reach the Final on Sunday 18 December, with a particular focus on the four leading contenders in the betting.
The elusive World Cup final. A game you’d absolutely dream of your country playing in and a game that would be a serious test of your nerves.
For many, reaching the final is good enough, whatever comes after that is a bonus. For others, they’re expecting to go as far as the final and then some.
England reaching the Euro 2020 final was as good as it’s been for many years for English fans but they’ll all tell you, the heartbreak of losing the final wasn’t worth it.
But in terms of betting, we’re wondering where the value might lie when it comes to teams reaching the final.
The betting maintains a very similar order to the World Cup Winner Odds with the usual suspects such as Brazil, France, Argentina, and England leading the market, but as we’ve seen from previous tournaments, anyone is in with a chance these days.
We’ll be taking a look at the market leaders and talking about their chances of reaching the final…
Brazil
Brazil find themselves as the favourites when it comes to reaching the final. It makes sense really since they are currently the outright favourites to win the competition, and with the squad they’re bringing to the tournament, you’d be a fool to write them off.
Brazil are coming into this tournament without a loss since July 2021 where they lost in the Copa America final against Argentina. Since then they have gone on to play 15 games and not lose a single one of them, however, that defeat in the final will definitely still be on their minds and they would love to have a proper crack at this tournament.
Another factor Brazil have got going for them in the run-up to the World Cup is Neymar’s sensational patch of form at the moment with PSG. As of writing this the Brazilian has played 18 games this season scoring 14 times and assisting 11; averaging out at a goal every 105 minutes and a goal involvement every 58 minutes.
Brazil will be loving this as he has proved to be their main man for the past few years and he can actually take over from Pele as their all-time leading goalscorer this tournament as he sits just two goals away from the retired legend.
Brazil are big favourites to win their World Cup Group where they play Serbia, Switzerland and Ghana and it’d be quite a shock if they weren’t to win that whole group. Their projected route to the final goes as follows;
- Round of 16: Uruguay
- Quarter-Final: Spain
- Semi-Final: Argentina
- Final: France
Quite a brutal run in the grand scheme of things but to be the best you’ve got to beat the best and they will be looking to make a statement by beating all of those and reaching the final.
France
France will be looking to become one of the few teams to win back-to-back World Cups with a win in Qatar.
Italy and Brazil are the only two teams to win the trophy twice in a row with Italy achieving this in 1934-1938 and Brazil mimicking their success in 1958 and 1962. France come into this one as the second favourites and at near enough the same price as Brazil to reach the final.
As previously mentioned, Brazil are actually projected to meet France in the final with both of these teams being on opposite sides of the draw. France’s projected journey to the final is as follows:
- Round of 16: Poland
- Quarter-Final: England
- Semi-Final: Germany
- Final: Brazil
The World Cup never has easy draws but you could argue this is not as hard as Brazil’s given their struggle against Argentina in the Copa America final. France should have no issue with Poland in the Round of 16 but England and Germany could definitely pose as threats to the French squad.
France will definitely fancy their chances this year and the bookmakers certainly seem to like the look of them. Brazil are solid favourites to win the whole thing at 4/1 and next up France have just pipped Argentina and England in the market.
The talent really does run deep in this French squad and some of their key players are firing this season. With their projected run to the final and the talent in their squad, expect them to comfortably make it out of the group stage and make a solid run in the knockout stages.
England
England come into this final off the back of their heartbreak in the Euro 2020 final where they were eliminated on penalties by Italy. An early goal for the home side proved to be their downfall as perhaps they got too comfortable in the game and invited Italy back in the game, but we can’t dwell on the past too much.
England have been on a slight drift in the betting markets mainly due to their form coming into this World Cup. As it stands they are currently six games without a win, with two losses against Hungary being some of the most concerning results as of late. Many have called for Southgate to be sacked after this patch of form but he remains in the job for the World Cup.
“It’s coming home” will be heard all around the nation in the cold winter of England but it seems like the bookmakers are being less convinced by the day when it comes to their chances.
England were once as short as 5/1 and joint favourites to win the World Cup and are now all the way out to 7/1 to win the trophy. In terms of reaching the final, they’re priced at 3/1 with most firms, a similar price to France, Brazil and Argentina.
England come as one of the shortest prices in the whole tournament to win their group at 3/10 and you’d like to think, with a team like England, winning games early will be key for team morale as the whole nation will be getting behind the boys. If they are to win Group B as many are expecting them to, here’s their projected route to the final:
- Round of 16: Senegal
- Quarter-Final: France
- Semi-Final: Germany
- Final: Brazil
As always with many other teams, it’s getting rough when it gets to the quarter-final but as mentioned previously, it could be another favourable game in the Round of 16 for England where they are expected to play Senegal. If they can string together some solid early wins in the tournament, they can certainly test France who seem to be missing some key players coming into the World Cup. Momentum will definitely be key.
Speaking of momentum, they will also need their individuals to be shining from the get-go and thankfully their main man Harry Kane has been in great form as of late.
The striker has managed to score 11 goals in 13 games for Spurs this season and has also assisted twice. Kane is an early favourite for the Golden Boot at the World cup and if Kane is to be amongst the goals, expect England to be having a real go at reaching the final.
Argentina
Argentina have been backed in massively in most of the World Cup markets following their Copa America win. It was the story all of the Argentinians were looking for with Lionel Messi finally winning some silverware for the national team and it could not have been any more perfect as they took down Brazil, who have often been the stars of South American Football.
The biggest factor coming into this tournament for Argentina is the return of form for Lionel Messi. Last season he wasn’t looking like the Messi we’re all used to, but this season, he’s proving why he should be regarded as the best of all time.
Argentina are big favourites to win their group which consists of Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Poland. You wouldn’t think there would be a problem with them getting out but the problem won’t be escaping that group, it will come after they top that group. Their projected run to the final is as follows:
- Round of 16: Denmark
- Quarter-Final: Netherlands
- Semi-Final: Brazil
- Final: France
Unfortunately for Argentinian fans that is not a road to the final they’ll be liking the look of. Netherlands are proving to be a fairly solid team these days, Brazil are the outright favourites for the tournament and France are the second favourites.
Argentina are priced at 7/2 to reach the final and with their potential semi-final opponent being Brazil, it’s hard to say it’s a good price.
