Which 2018 World Cup Bets Were the Most Popular? This FIFA World Cup in Russia saw some of the biggest surprises in the modern game, and we covered the excitement of the World Cup here on Wanna Make a Bet. As with any tournament, predicting who will win is very popular. The most popular predictions were all the usual suspects: Brazil, Spain, Argentina, France, Portugal, and England. As we saw, however, this was a World Cup of upsets and surprises.
When the tournament began on June 14, 2014, World Cup champions Germany were second favorites to win with +500 odds, but managed to slip to fourth place after their astonishing defeat to Mexico in their Group F opener. Despite Germany’s 2-1 win over Sweden in their second game, they only managed to collect a total of 3 points after their second defeat to South Korea in their last game of the group stage. Defending champions Germany went home early, after +800 odds placed them as fourth favorites to win the tournament. They weren’t the only giants to bow out early and throw off odds all over the world.
Brazil, the favorites, emerged as winners in Group E. Their good performance early in the tournament notwithstanding, Brazil’s track record in the competition speaks for itself – five-time winners of the World Cup – and expectations were always high, along with the odds. The samba boys were given +400 odds, with Neymar Jr. +1000 to win the Golden Ball. Unexpectedly, however, Brazil were bested in the quarter finals by dark horse Belgium, who were given +1000 odds to win the World Cup, with Kevin De Bruyne 8th favorite to win the Golden Ball with +3300 odds.
Eventual winners France were given +750 odds to win, the lowest out of the five favorites. While their track record in recent tournaments wasn’t good, Les Bleus had great talent with the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and young star Kylian Mbappe. France’s path to glory began as Group C winners, and their defeats of Argentina, Belgium, and Croatia, in the final, made them world champions. Speaking of Argentina, they were given +1000 odds to win, but failed to make it pass the Round of 16.
Croatia, who were given +3500, came very close to World Cup glory when they reached the final for the first time ever. England, with +1700 odds also surprised this year and had their best result since 1990. England are part of the exclusive 8 nations to have won the World Cup, with their only trophy coming in 1966. This year they exceeded all expectations, and Harry Kane became the competition’s top scorer with six goals, despite odds of +1600, with Messi, Neymar Jr. and Griezmann as favorites to finish top goalscorer.
As the above odds show, you can never truly predict how a tournament will play out. Popular teams were knocked out early, while an outsider made it all the way to the final.
Written by Alayna Beatrice
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