Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay could be the lively South American teams in Russia this summer
Brazil finished top of CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying and you can make a strong case for the five-time winners when it comes to being the top South American team at the 2018 tournament.
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Tite has been a revelation since replacing Dunga as manager of the Selecao, with the Brazilians only losing one of their eighteen matches to finish ten points clear of the chasing pack.
Brazil have some ridiculously talented players in the squad, including Neymar, Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho, although there are doubts over the former considering that the PSG star effectively missed the second half of the domestic season with an injury.
Even so, the Brazilians are trading at even money with BetVictor* (betting odds taken from BetVictor on June 13th, 2018 at 4:40 a.m.) to be the pride of South America and those odds will tumble if Argentina slip up during the group stage, with La Albiceleste finishing third in CONMEBOL qualifying and they were handed a group that includes Croatia, Nigeria and Iceland.
Can Albiceleste make a deep run?
While Lionel Messi & Co are still favourites to win their section, it shouldn’t come as a total shock if they do slip up after three difficult matches and they are trading very short despite the attacking motives of coach Jorge Sampaoli.
It’s easier to be confident about Uruguay’s chances and Oscar Tabarez will be confident that his team can win Group A and overcome the potential challenge of Portugal in the last sixteen stage – providing that the latter actually qualify.
Visit BetvictorTop South American Team odds*
Brazil evens
Argetnian 2/1
Uruguya 6/1
Colombia 7/1
Peru 33/1
* (betting odds taken from BetVictor on June 13th, 2018 at 4:40 a.m.)
Uruguay look confident
So we could be looking at the Uruguayans lining up at the last eight stage of the competition, with the front two of Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez likely to be a handful for any opponent, while Diego Godin will look to marshal a defence to the effect that has helped Atletico Madrid have yet another great campaign.
There are two other South American teams worthy of consideration, with Colombia having gone largely unnoticed in Group H for what looks to be an open section, although this team were just a point behind Argentina in qualifying.
There might be a lack of ambition within the ranks considering their fairly modest World Cup record, with a quarter final berth potentially the height of their achievements as was the case at the previous World Cup when they were beaten by hosts Brazil.
World Cup 2018 outright winner odds*
Brazil 4/1
Germany 5/1
Spain 6/1
France 6/1
Argentina 9/1
Belgium 10/1
England 16/1
Portugal 25/1
Uruguay 25/1
Croatia 33/1
Columbia 40/1
Russia 40/1
Poland 66/1
Denmark 100/1
Mexico 100/1
Switzerland 125/1
Sweden 150/1
Peru 150/1
Bar 200/1
* (Betting Odds taken from BetVictor on June 13th, 2018 at 4.18 a.m.)
The South American underdogs
Finally, we have Peru, a side that came through a play-off to reach Russia although they’re not here to make up the numbers.
The Incas will be confident they can get ahead of Australia and Denmark to qualify from Group C, although points were at a premium away from home and one wonders how they might adjust to conditions in Russia considering this isn’t a team with a lot of big tournament experience.
