Brazil’s chances at the World Cup 2018
Will Brazil be able to put the nightmare of four years ago behind them and go out and get their hands on the World Cup title for what would be the sixth time in the history? They are heading out to Russia in the summer as one of the tournament favourites which is no surprise to anyone and as a whole, the Brazilian squad does look stronger than it was four years ago. So that will be a boost for anybody looking to get behind them. But in March their talismanic striker Neymar underwent surgery on a broken metatarsal.
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He is pivotal to the chances of Brazil going all the way at the World Cup 2018. He was named in the provisional Brazil squad, but even if he does make it back to take part in the tournament, what will his fitness and match sharpness levels be like having missed the back end of PSG’s domestic season? Neymar is Brazil, and they rely on him for goals will they be able to get him fit and ready to go? Regardless Brazil are the 4/1 odds the right favourites* (Betting Odds taken at 11:27 p.m. on May 1th, 2018) to win the World Cup 2018.
Visit Bet365Brazil World Cup 2018 Fixtures – Group Stage
There is a very decent chance of progression for Brazil in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup. The Selecao were drawn against Switzerland, Serbia and Costa Rica in Group E for the action at Russia 2018. It is not the most difficult of groups and that could be beneficial as it could get Neymar some game time before the more serious business of the knockout stages of the tournament. Brazil may well need that to happen.
Brazil’s opener in the tournament comes on Sunday, June 17 when they take on European side Switzerland. The Swiss were pretty handy through their qualification campaign challenging Portugal for top spot in the group. They are a positive and adventurous team at the moment however they will go into the opener against the Brazilians as strong underdogs. The only previous World Cup meeting between those two happened in 1950 when there was a 2-2 draw played out. The most recent meeting was in a friendly international back in 2013 with Switzerland taking a 1-0 win on home soil. Brazil won the only other meeting between them which was a 2006 friendly.
Brazil then go into the easiest group stage game when they take on Costa Rica on Friday, June 22. Brazil should collect the maximum points on offer here or something is going to be very wrong with the qualification campaign. The last time Brazil and Costa Rica met was in a friendly in 2015 and Brazil won that won 1-0. Brazil’s last two wins against Costa Rica were both by 1-0 scoreline. From the 10 previous meetings between the two countries, Brazil are 9-1 up in the head to head.
There should be a really interesting contest between Brazil and Serbia in the final group stage match which kicks off on Wednesday, June 27. Brazil are likely to be topping the table at that point but it could be a tight fight between Switzerland and Serbia for a second-place finish behind them. So assuming that Switzerland would have already lost against Brazil, Serbia could be in the position of knowing that by digging their heels in, a point could potentially get them through. So it could be a test of Brazil’s patience were still at the end of the day you would expect the South Americans to put maximum points on the board. Brazil are at 2/5 odds to win group E* (Betting Odds taken at 11:27 p.m. on May 1th, 2018) at Russia 2018.
Brazil Stage of Elimination
Just to put Brazil’s chances into context they are a massive 10/1 odds price to get eliminated at the group stage. There’s very little chance of that happening and so it is to the knockout stages to look. In the round of 16 they will be playing a team from Group F which houses Germany, Mexico, Sweden and South Korea. It is unlikely that it would be South Korea that they would face and if Germany were to somehow forget to read the script and finish second in the group that would set up a huge Brazil v Germany round of 16 clash (or vice versa).
The most likely scenario though is that it would be Sweden who Brazil face in the first knockout stage of the competition and they could be stubborn opposition, but the South Americans should be able to handle themselves well regardless. In the quarter-finals it would most likely be more European opposition for them in either Belgium or Poland most likely. Out of those two most plausible outcome is that it would be Belgium that they take on.
It’s still hard to see Brazil slipping up at that point regardless of who it is that they face and because of the depth of talent that they have in the squad, they look pretty much a banker to be arriving in the final four. If they get through the tournament having won the group stage it could mean a semi-final duel with potentially France which would be an entertaining affair between two very good countries. Brazil are 4/1 odds to go out of the semi-final stage* (Betting Odds taken at 11:27 p.m. on May 17th, 2018) and we don’t really see that happening, we see them being the right at the end, with or without Neymar.
Brazil Top Goalscorer
It is hard to know what kind of participation that Neymar is going to be able to put into the World Cup over the summer but still he is even money odds-on favourite to beat Brazil’s top scorer at the competition. His strike rate for Brazil is just so phenomenal that even though he will have missed three months of action the even money price is still a little bit tempting. Brazil’s big backup plan is Manchester city’s Gabriel Jesús who may find himself thrust a little bit further forward into the limelight if Brazil can’t rely on the fitness of Neymar. Jesús is 5/2 odds second favourite at bet365 in Brazil top goalscorer odds* (Betting Odds taken at 11:27 p.m. on May 17th, 2018). Other options would be Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino and Chelsea’s Willian. There have some striking power do Brazil.
Outright Odds* for the World Cup 2018
Brazil 4/1, Germany 9/2, Spain 6/1, France 13/2, Argentina 9/1, Belgium 11/1, England 18/1, Portugal 25/1, Uruguay 33/1, Croatia 33/1, bar 40/1* (Betting Odds taken at 5:27 p.m. on May 16th, 2018)
Predictions
You have to assess the Neymar situation when it comes to Brazil’s chances at the 2018 World Cup. He is the main man, he is to go-to man, their talismanic icon. His absence would be a massive loss for Brazil but realistically even if he appears, then the amount of time that he has lost over the back end of the domestic season in France, is bound to have an effect on his ability to light up the World Cup.
Still with that said even if you are considering a half fit Neymar who perhaps only plays the final 20 min of matches, Brazil have so much attacking talent, have a solid base in midfield with the likes of Manchester City’s Fernandinho and they actually have a good goalkeeper at this time around in Alisson. The squad is so good that we can see them landing themselves in the Final.
