After the outright winner market, one of the most popular areas that punters will be looking at for their World Cup 2018 betting is the group stage. World Cup 2018 group betting comes in many varied forms. You have the obvious outright winner and the “to qualify” market” which will draw a lot of appeal and the nice thing about group betting at the 2018 World Cup, is that you will know your outcome pretty quickly compared to the overall tournament winner selection, which you have to wait a whole month for.
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The bulk of all of the matches at the 2018 World Cup will be played in the group stage as in total there are a 48 matches played in the first round action. That’s a lot of individual match betting to be done, but here we are going to take a look at the best betting options for World Cup 2018 group betting.
World Cup 2018 Outright Winner Odds*
Brazil 4/1, Germany 9/2, Spain 6/1, France 13/2, Argentina 9/1, Belgium 11/1, England 18/1, Portugal 25/1, Croatia 33/1, Uruguay 33/1, Colombia 40/1, Russia 40/1, Poland 50/1, bar 100/1* (betting odds taken from Bet365 at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018)
Visit Bet365World Cup 2018 Group A betting – predictions & winner odds
Group A at the 2018 World Cup is fascinating. Host nation Russia must be sweating a bit as they look at what they have to deal with. They are likely to come under considerable threat from South American nation Uruguay in the race for top spot. But given how poor Russia have been for some while now, there is the bubbling threat of Egypt who may come to the tournament and pose the big upset threat to the Russians. Russia opens the World Cup as hosts against Saudi Arabia on Thursday, June 14 and they are odds-on favourites to get the win in the match.
Frankly, if they don’t, then they are going to be in for a rough ride. Russia’s second game is against Egypt, and the entire country of Egypt will be waiting on the fitness of their superstar Mo Salah who was injured in the UEFA Champions League final for Liverpool against Real Madrid. Egypt are underdogs for their games against Uruguay and Russia, but you just wonder if Salah is there and fit, with they be able to frustrate the hosts?
Overall Uruguay certainly look the strongest nation in the group and at 11/10 odds to win group a with bet365* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018), that looks a reasonable place to start. In the Group A to qualify market, Russia are at 4/11 odds but their current form is pretty much in the gutter. During 2017 they lost matches against the Ivory Coast and Mexico, while they played out a draw against Iran and didn’t make an impact on home soil during the 2017 Confederations Cup. So really the exciting question the group raises is whether or not Egypt, who so nearly held Portugal to draw in a March friendly, can upset Russia. Egypt are 8/15 odds to qualify* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018).
Prediction: Uruguay should top the group, and while Russia will be made to sweat they should just do enough to squeeze through.
World Cup 2018 Group B betting – predictions & winner odds
Group B at the 2018 World Cup looks one of the more cut and dry groups. That is because there are two strong European nations in there with Portugal and Spain taking on Morocco and Iran. So it’s not too difficult to predict the outcome of that. Spain and Portugal go head-to-head in the group opener which is one to look forward to on Friday, June 15, and the Spaniards are 20/21 odds favourites* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018) to get the victory in that match. Realistically that’s going to be the group decider. Neither Iran or Morocco are likely to do anywhere near enough to muscle their way into upsetting one of European nations to take a qualification spot away from them. This is a group where it’s probably worth looking for a straight forecast and you can take 11/10 odds on Spain* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018) to finish in first place and Portugal finishing second.
Prediction: There should be a straightforward outcome in this one and as Spain looking far better shape than Portugal do, Spain are likely to top the group with Portugal qualifying behind them.
World Cup 2018 Group C betting – predictions & winner odds
Group C at the 2018 World Cup hosts France, Denmark, Peru and Australia. The clear favourites there are France who are 4/9 odds-on favourites* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018) to win the group. Given their current standing in the world game and their great tournament showing at Euro 2016, it will be surprising if France didn’t win the group and they have to be pretty happy with the draw that they have received. So who is worth backing behind them to also qualify?
This is a pretty straightforward answer as well as far as we can see as Denmark are 4/6 odds to qualify at bet365* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018). The Danes put together pretty solid qualification campaign and its been many a year since we have seen a Denmark side as good as this current one is. They have flashes of brilliance in their squad, notably through Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen, and looking at them, and the way that they handled themselves in the World Cup qualifying play-offs against Ireland, they should hold off Peru and Australia comfortably enough.
Prediction: A straight 1-2 for Europe in this one with France topping the group and Denmark comfortably following them through.
World Cup 2018 Group D betting – predictions & winner odds
Group D at the 2018 World Cup should be fiercely competitive and it is one of the ones where qualification isn’t quite as cut and dry. You have Argentina who are the odds-on favourites to actually win the group, but certainly, with some bad chinks in their armour exposed during World Cup 2018 qualifying, the other teams in the group will really fancy having a go at them. Yes Argentina have in Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and co, but they haven’t played all that well as a team, certainly not as an offensive force.
You have Nigeria and Iceland in the group as well both of which will bring their own unique qualities. The Super Eagles were quite enterprising and solid enough through the qualification campaign. They look stronger than they were four years ago when they did go up against Argentina in the group stage and nearly scored an upset over the Albiceleste. Iceland were one of the stars of Euro 2016 after their fantastic run against the odds, and they beat Croatia in their World Cup qualification group to top spot.
So it will be interesting to see how they handle themselves in their first ever World Cup. Iceland are 4/1 odds underdogs in the group to qualify with Nigeria at 14/5* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018). It’s the presence of Croatia, one of the more notable dark horses for Russia 2018 that makes the group so fascinating. They have the squad to really put together a strong challenge to Argentina in winning the group. There are technically very sound and going to be a very difficult side for anybody to have to go up against.
Prediction: Group D looks as if each of the teams are capable of taking points off the others. So this should be pretty tight. It may just be worth backing underdogs Croatia at 13/5 odds to beat Argentina* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018) to win the group. You would still have the back Argentina to qualify through though, but the presence of Nigeria make really cause them to sweat.
World Cup 2018 Group E betting – predictions & winner odds
Group E should be a straightforward betting affair for punters. Brazil other 2/5 odds favourites* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018) to top that pool. We get a great Brazil versus Switzerland group opener as well to look for to. Brazil just look fantastic at the moment, and with or without Neymar they should be able to qualify here comfortably enough as group winners.
Switzerland had a good qualification campaign, only falling short at the very last hurdle in failing to get the draw against Portugal which they needed to win the group. Still, Switzerland look enterprising at the moment and have been playing some positive stuff. Perhaps only questionable thing in this group is whether or not Serbia can have an impact. Because of the fixtures, if Serbia win their opener over Costa Rica and Switzerland lose their opener against Brazil, Serbia will have a bit of a foothold in the group.
Because then if they could go out and get a result against the Swiss in their second group stage match that would put them through to the next round. So the game between Serbia and Switzerland on June 22 should be a tense one. Serbia after all did battle their way through a tough group containing Ireland, Wales and Austria in World Cup qualification and could just make things interesting in the race to qualify behind Brazil.
Prediction: Brazil should stroll their way to winning the group, and we don’t think that is in much doubt. But just because the way the fixtures are set up in group B, we can see a window of opportunity to back Serbia at 11/8 odds to qualify* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018).
World Cup 2018 Group F betting – predictions & winner odds
Group F has the reigning world champions Germany as the 4/9 odds on favourites* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018) to win it. It’s hard to picture a scenario where that doesn’t actually happen. In the group, Germany will be taking on Mexico, Sweden and South Korea. Considering how strong Germany have looked since their Euro 2016 exit and being bolstered by a new young scoring sensation in the form of Timo Werner, they should be just fine.
With South Korea not expected to really be in the picture for any qualification hope, it leaves a tussle between Mexico and Sweden to join Germany in the next round. So which way to swing on that one? It’s worth going against the bookmaker’s on this one. Of the two Mexico are 11/10 odds to qualify with Sweden at 6/4 odds* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018). The longer value on the Europeans looks a great option to take because of what they achieved during qualification not only in holding off the Netherlands but also landing a convincing win over the French. There appears to be some value on a Germany and Sweden dual forecast at 7/4 odds* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018).
Prediction: There should be no stopping Germany landing the group win. Because of how good Sweden have looked in the last year or so it’s worth backing them to make it a European 1-2 in the group.
World Cup 2018 Group G betting – predictions & winner odds
This is another one of the groups where it’s not too difficult to predict the top two teams. Predicting the order of those top two teams is a little trickier. Belgium and England are the clear front runners in Group H for World Cup 2018 betting. Of those two European challengers it is Belgium who are the 5/6 odds-on favourites* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018) to win the group with England coming in at 11/8 odds with bet365* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018).
The rest of the group is made up by Panama who are making their World Cup debut and African nation Tunisia. The set up of the group stage matches means that when England and Belgium meet on June 28 in the final round of group stage matches, there is a strong probability that they will both be sat on six points and this will be the expected group decider. At this point, one of them could have a goal difference over the other which means that they would be happy enough to settle for a draw.
Also because both Belgium and England would have qualified in that scenario, both nations may also take the chance to rest some players ahead of the knockout phase. The early price on the game has Belgium as 7/5 odds favourites with England at 2/1* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018). England actually do have a very strong head-to-head against the Red Devils.
Prediction: It is going to be interesting who does come out on top in this group because Belgium and England look very evenly matched. The one difference between them perhaps is that Belgium may be able to come up with enough goals just to edge out the three Lions and a Belgium/England straight forecast is at 11/10* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018).
World Cup 2018 Group H betting – predictions & winner odds
There should be a competitive group battle between Poland, Senegal, Columbia and Japan in Group H. Of those four, Japan look the least likely to get themselves into the qualification frame. But it leaves a tight three-way scrap between Columbia, Poland and Senegal and each have their strengths. The bookmakers have sided with Columbia being the strongest of those three and the South Americans are 7/4 odds to win Group H* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018).
However there looks to be better value on Poland 2/1 odds* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018), as they were untroubled through qualification, and they produced some great tournament football at Euro 2016 where they were not overawed by the occasion. Poland also look strong up front for the sheer presence of Robert Lewandowski alone and they actually do appeal to win this tight group. Columbia’s World Cup qualification campaign wasn’t anything special, and after their highs of four years ago in Brazil it could fall flat for them this time around.
The challenge of Senegal, who have a lot of English Premier League players in their ranks is going to be interesting. They are going to turn up with pace and power and that’s something that could really trouble Columbia when they to go head-to-head. Looking at the three contenders for the qualification spots from group H, it’s not hard to imagine the more taking points off each other. This should be the tightest group of all of them.
Prediction: Who is better suited to win out in a tight battle question mark? For us Poland as the most appeal, as they are likely to produce more going forward than the other two contenders. Just because Columbia have not looked anything special for the last couple of years, we would even go as far to seriously consider the 13/8 odds on Senegal to qualify* (betting odds taken at 00:13 a.m. on May 29th, 2018) ahead of them.
World Cup 2018 Group Stage Predictions
- Group A: Uruguay, Russia
- Group B: Spain, Portugal
- Group C: France, Denmark
- Group D: Croatia, Argentina
- Group E: Brazil, Serbia
- Group F: Germany, Sweden
- Group G: Belgium, England
- Group H: Poland, Senegal
