England received a fantastic draw for the 2018 World Cup after luck was really on the side. The draw for next summer’s football festival was made on Friday, December 1st in Moscow and with England in danger of pulling out someone like Brazil, Argentina or Germany, things really didn’t up too badly for the Three Lions.
They were drawn against Belgium in Group G, one of the seeded teams for the tournament and then came along Tunisia and Panama. So it really should be easy pickings for the Three Lions and a huge chance for the nation to make amends for their major failure at the last World Cup to even get out of the group stage when they were drawn against Italy, Costa Rica and Uruguay.
The favourable draw has seen Stan James trim England to 16/1 to win the World Cup next summer because they will get a pretty comfortable passage through to the knockout stages. However, down the line in winning the group, they could still meet Colombia, Brazil, France and then Germany in the final. If they finish second to Belgium they would have to go through Poland, Germany, Spain and then Brazil to win the tournament.
So getting to the Final itself isn’t going to be an easy thing for the Three Lions whichever way you look at it. But they are now at 1/4 to qualify for the knockout stage of Russia 2018 and then in the round of sixteen their potential opponents could be Poland, Senegal, Colombia or Japan and again, there were far worse scenarios out there that England could have been projected ahead into at that stage.
England are second favourites at 7/5 to win Group G with Belgium going as clear favourites as they are ranked fifth in the world at the moment. That group decider will happen in the final group stage match when the two European nations meet up. Betway have tossed out a price of 7/1 on England failing to get out of the group stage, which for the Three Lions begins against Tunisia on June 18th, before meeting World Cup debutants Panama on June 24th.
Already England are 4/7 odds on favourites to beat African representatives Tunisia, who are 6/1 to topple Gareth Southgate’s men. Other early betting options on England at the World Cup 2018 are 9/2 on them to get through the group without conceding a single goal and they are 7/1 with Betfred to get through to the next stage with three wins from three. England’s Harry Kane is the 6/4 favourite to be England’s top scorer at the tournament and 16/1 to win the Golden Boot.
Brazil and the reigning champions Germany are still at the head of the market at 5/1 with Stan James but both have quietly interesting groups. Germany gets to go against Mexico, Sweden and South Korea while the Selecao faces up to Switzerland, Serbia and Costa Rica. France are hovering at the 6/1 mark to win the World Cup 2018 and they received a pretty handy draw in going against Peru, Denmark and Australia.
Spain have been cut a little bit into 15/2 despite being drawn with reigning European Champions Portugal in the group stage. If La Roja wins that group then they will get an easy round of sixteen tie against someone from Group A, which is arguably the weakest of the groups containing Russia, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay and Egypt. Argentina drifted in World Cup betting to 9/1 as they go against Nigeria, Croatia and Iceland but are in the most difficult section of the tournament.
World Cup 2018 draw
Group A: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay
Group B: Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran
Group C: France, Australia, Peru, Denmark
Group D: Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria
Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia
Group F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea
Group G: Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England
Group H: Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan
World Cup Betting Odds
Germany 5/1, Brazil 5/1, France 6/1, Spain 15/2, Argentina 9/1, Belgium 12/1, England 16/1, Portugal 25/1, Russia 33/1, Uruguay 33/1, Colombia 33/1, Croatia 40/1, Poland 40/1, Denmark 80/1, Switzerland 80/1, 100/1 bar
