June 14th, that is when England’s World Cup 2014 campaign will start. The anticipation is already high for England v Italy betting, the opening match in Group D. That first kick off could be the first step on a long road to success for the Three Lions, but what are England’s chances of winning World Cup 2014? They are running as one of the dark horse pack and that is a fair reflection over Roy Hodgson’s men, because no-one really knows what to expect from them.
In naming his 23 man squad early, Hodgson must surely have a clear picture of who exactly he is going to be putting into the starting line up. He must have a strong idea of what his best side is. That could change of course during the World Cup run, but everything from the odds on England winning their opening match, to them actually lifting the World Cup itself, all seem to be against the Three Lions. They are pretty much underdogs in everything.
England are 2/1 underdogs to beat Italy in Manaus, with the Italy, the losing Euro 2012 finalists, at 6/4. They are also second favourites at 7/4 for their second match of the tournament against Uruguay on June 19th, before finally taking odds-on favouritism for their meeting with Costa Rica on June 24th.
You can then look at England’s odds in Group D, where they are third favourites at 11/5 to win the the group ahead of Italy and Uruguay, and third favourites at 8/13 just to qualify from the group for the knockout stages. They are actually 5/4 second favourites not to qualify. So it would appear that England have an uphill task ahead of them in trying to success any degree of success. So again, England’s chances in World Cup 2014 don’t look that bright.
But they can succeed and that is down to Hodgson’s tactics.
You can back England at 100/1 to win the World Cup 2014 thanks to promotion from top online betting site Paddy Power. New account holders can take advantage of the welcome bonus where your first bet struck with the bookmaker can take England at their regular odds, but if Roy Hodgson’s men do go on and lift the title, then cumulative odds of 100/1 will be paid out. This is on offer which should be jumped on quickly, because of the high liability that Paddy Power are running on it, it’s not likely to be running for too long!
With the young squad at his disposal, there is going to be no point in expecting his side to sit back, absorb pressure and knock the ball around in a composed, controlled manner. The best form of defence is going to be attack for England, using the exciting young players like Raheem Sterling, Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge to actually push hard and try to win matches. They have to take initiative because if they fall into their boring, directionless football, then they aren’t going to get anywhere.
England’s chances of winning World Cup 2014 are realistically slim, that is why they are out as 28/1 shots and not in the single figure marks like Spain, Germany, Argentina and outright favourites Brazil are. There is a void in class between them all. One thing which could favour England this time around, is lack of expectation upon them. It really seems that his campaign is a nothing-to-lose type approach, especially after being drawn in a tough group, but that could actually favour England. Why? There’s no pressure on them like there was four years ago, when they buckled easily.
A quarter final exit (4/1 in the England Stage of Elimination market) would probably been seen as a pretty successful tournament. If they do manage to overcome the different challenges that will be put before them by Italy and Uruguay, as well as convincingly seeing off rank outsiders Costa Rica, then they should be brimming with confidence for the knockout stage. If they get through, then they would face one of Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast or Japan in the round of sixteen. Then comes the quarter finals, where it would likely be a game against Brazil or Spain.
There is no easy path to the final for England, there are going to be tough matches ahead, even from the very first whistle, as they haven’t scored in their last three competitive matches against Italy. Still, that won’t stop the patriotic punter from backing England’s chances of winning World Cup 2014.
