Your Complete Football World Cup Betting Guide

Betting on the World Cup presents a unique opportunity for punters to bet on their favourite players in one tournament. There are 64 matches in 28 days. Each match has hundreds of betting markets available and we will examine the most important points for you to look out for before placing your bets.

Odds

The odds are the single most important factor for punters looking to bet on the World Cup. There are a multitude of different types of bets with some offering great odds like which player will win the Golden Boot for top goalscorer or which Goalkeeper will be awarded the Golden Gloves award. The favourites coming into the tournament are five time champions Brazil followed by France as defending champions. There are also dark horses like Germany and Argentina whose odds are great if punters fancy a wager on them. In the group stages there will be some mouthwatering head to head clashes. These matches don’t provide lengthy odds but the chances of predicting the winner of the contest is high. This type of bet is a good option as the risk is low so therefore wagering a decent some of money on your favoured team will bring you good rewards. It is vitally important to scan the different bookies and their odds as a minimal difference in odds could make a big difference to your payout especially with accumulator bets.

Most Popular Markets

Arguably the most popular betting market for the World Cup would be the outright winner as the return on winnings is always great. There are other bets within the tournament like which teams will win the respective groups. Punters won’t fancy a wager on a team like Belgium who have a star studded team but always seem to fade away in the big events. England is another team many punters follow due to the Premierships popularity around the world. They will be looking for their second ever World Cup after winning their inaugural title in 1966. Punters will be impressed by England’s run to the final in the last Euro Championship.

There are different bet types but in a massive event like the World Cup the accumulator bets is where the big money winnings lie. The odds are great on these bets purely because of the risk involved in selecting winners of several matches. Some bookies offer great odds booster on accumulator bets that increase your original winnings. An excellent accumulator bet would be to pick the winners of the eight groups which could make that punter quite rich.

Team vs Team betting

As always there will be some great match ups in the group stages and these games attract a lot of attention for fans and punters alike. One of the bigger clashes in the group stages are Spain vs Germany. Both teams are past winners with Germany winning the title four times and Spain once. This match has literally hundreds of markets available and every possible match event will have a betting market. There are some great features like Bet Builder which allows you to make multiple selections in one match.

Strategies & Betting Tips

There are various strategies one can adopt when you betting on the World Cup. The method that works for me is to place accumulator bets with mainly favourites that serve as bankers and then I include a couple of underdog teams that will increase the odds of the overall bet. Many bookies offer a One Leg Out feature which means that if your accumulator bet loses by one leg they will refund your stake or in some instances you can get 10 times your stake back depending on the number of selections you had on the betslip. There are many factors that need to be taken into account and looking at previous matches between teams is always a good indicator of how the match will unfold.

Bonuses and Promotions

Major FIFA tournaments are great times for punters and the various bookies offer fantastic promotions to players. The usual welcome bonuses are still in place but they offer prizes like football pools where you have to predict the score in selected matches and if you win then the Jackpot prize is yours. There are always odds boosters available on the multi bets. Bookies also give plenty of free bets to players when they make deposits during the tournament.

It is all well and good to be excited about betting on the World Cup but the most important decision is which bookie are you going to use for your betting requirements. We have a list of the best bookies in the country and this was only compiled after we closely scrutinized each of them. We looked at various factors like their bonus offers, their odds and of course their legality. Each bookie has their own best selling point so sometimes we feel it is good having an account at different betting sites as this allows you to have the best of multiple worlds.

You must research the odds being offered for the outright winner at the World Cup and if you fancy taking this type of bet, then choose the bookie with the best odds.

The other major attraction is obviously the promotional offers that a bookie has for the World Cup like free bets if you make any deposits during the World Cup.

As mentioned earlier the Bet Builder is a great feature especially if you know the two teams playing very well. This feature is not available at all bookies. The bookies that have this feature also offer bets on request meaning you choose a particular set of match outcomes within a match and they will offer you the odds for those selections.

These are some of the best features and offers from our selected bookies.

Sportingbet

They have been arguably the leading bookie in the country and they enhanced this reputation by offering new players a first deposit match offer of up to R2 000 and they also are one of the few betting sites that offer the Edit My Bet feature which allows you to change selections on your betslip before the last event takes place.

Betway

They offer up to a R1 000 first deposit match as their welcome bonus. Betway has great odds on football matches and they give you an odds booster on all football multi bets.

Hollywood Bets

The most popular bookie in the country is Hollywoodbets and they welcome new players with a no deposit R25 bonus. Punters can make use of the Bet Builder feature that they have for football matches.

Gbets

They welcome new players with a double barrel welcome offer of a R25 no deposit bonus and a first deposit match offer of up to R1 000. Their also have the Edit My Bet feature with their football odds rivalling any bookie on the market.

Sunbet

Sunbet has a first deposit match offer up to R1 000 while they have great offer for football punters. Their Accumulator Special Feature refunds your entire football stake if your bet loses by one leg.

Supabets

This bookie welcomes new players with a no deposit bonus of R50.Supabets have excellent odds on all football matches and have a live streaming service available to players.

Punters are always on the lookout for great features from bookies so we have researched the most relevant features that will help you when betting on the World Cup.

Cash Out Feature

This feature allows you to cash out your multibet if you are unsure of your remaining selections leaving you in control of your bet.

Edit My Bet

Punters can now change their selection while their multibet is still active and is ideal for the World Cup accumulator bets.

Odds Booster

Punters get an additional odds boost when they make three or more selections on their bet slip

Live Streaming

You can now follow your favourite team in the World Cup with the live streaming service available at some bookies.

One Leg Out Feature

You can get back up to 10 times your initial stake if the last team on your accumulator bet slip is a loser.

France was the favourite leading into 2022 but the brilliant form shown by Brazil during the qualifiers have swung the favourites tag towards them. There are other teams like Germany who always perform well at major events with Argentina another dark horse especially if Lionel Messi can recapture his form. England and Spain are two teams that are also worth a wager.

Qatar 2022 is upon us with 32 teams vying to be crowned World Champions for the next four years. The tournament begins on the 21 November and concludes on the 18th December. The teams are divided into eight groups of four with the top two teams advancing to the round of 16. This round starts on the 3rd December with the quarter finals beginning on the 9th December. The semi-finals will be played on the 13th and 14th of December. The grand final will be held at the 80 000 seater Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail on the 18th. This will be the first ever World Cup being held in Winter but this has been done to avoid playing in Summer where temperatures are dangerously high.

The playoffs

The first knockout stage which is the round of 16 will see the top two teams from the eight groups advance. The winners of each group will player the runner-up of another group. There is added incentive for teams to win their group as they can avoid a highly favoured team in the knockouts.

Group A – Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands

The obvious favourite in this group is the Netherlands while Qatar will be banking on their home support to see them through the group stage. One of the highlights in this group will be seeing Liverpool teammates Sadio Mane and Virgil Van Dijk up against each other.

Group B – England, Iran, USA, European Playoff Winner

It would be one of the surprises of the World Cup if England did not win this group as they are red hot favourites to advance. Harry Kane will want to start the tournament well in his quest for the Golden Boot.

Group C – Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland

This group will see two of football’s greatest goal scorers go head to head when Messi plays against the Poland’s Lewandowski. Both their teams are favourites to advance from this group.

Group D – France, Inter-Continental Playoff 1 winner, Denmark, Tunisia

This is another group that has a clear favourite with France the obvious winner with players like Mbappe and Pogba within their ranks. Denmark should finish runner up in this group.

Group E – Spain, Inter-Continental Playoff 2 winner, Germany, Japan

This is the most difficult group to predict the winner but Germany and Spain will advance. The winner of the match when they meet each other will win the group. Germany have ageing stars like Thomas Müller who will be playing his final World Cup.

Group F — Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia

Belgium were ranked number one in the FIFA rankings before Brazil overtook them. They achieved this without winning a major trophy and they will want to end that drought in Qatar. They will win the group with Croatia finishing in second spot. Real Madrid teammates Luka ModrIc and Thibaut Courtois will clash when the two group favourites meet.

Group G – Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon

Brazil is the clear favourites to win this group but they will have their eyes on the big prize. They last lifted the World Cup in 2002 but with stars like Neymar and Vinícius Júnior they will be hard to beat.

Group H – Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

This group sees megastars in Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez go up against each other. Portugal looks the most likely group winner with Uruguay and Ghana fighting for the second spot. There is history between these teams as Suarez stopped a certain goal with his hand in the 2010 World Cup to deny Ghana a place in the semis.

The first Winter World Cup has the potential to be the most open tournament yet with more than seven teams capable of being crowned champion. The opening match of the tournaments will take place on the 21 November 2022 at 12pm (SA time) and features Senegal playing the Netherlands.

The group stage ends on the 2nd December with the round of 16 beginning on the 3rd December. The quarter final stage starts on the 9th December with the first and second semi-finals on the 13th and 14th of December respectively. The Championship match is on the 18th December at 4pm( SA time)

Other leagues schedules

As mentioned earlier this is the first time the World Cup is being played in November and December and this posed a major problem to the leagues around the world as this is generally when the fixtures are happening every weekend. The European League and other competitions will be put on hold for six weeks while the local PSL matches will be on hold from the 6th November 2022 to the 7th January 2023.

The major leagues from across Europe and the local PSL are the most popular betting markets at the various bookies but now the online betting sites will need innovative promotional ideas to keep punters entertained during the World Cup. There needs to be proper research done on the fitness levels of the top players especially those that are returning from long term injuries.

The World Cup Venues

The Qatar World Cup has eight venues being used with seven of these venues built specifically for the tournament. All stadiums have state of the art internal cooling systems to assist with the heat in the stadiums. These are the venues:

Lusail Stadium

This is the biggest of all the venues boasting an 80 000 seating capacity. Four knockout matches including the final will be played at this stadium. This venue is located in Doha.

Al Bayt Stadium

Al Bayt Stadium is situated in the most northern part of the country in the city of Al Khor. It has a seating capacity of 60 000and will host Qatar’s opening match on the 21st November.

Stadium 974

This 40 000 seater stadium got its name from the 974 recycled shipping containers that were used to build it. This stadium will be deconstructed at the conclusion of the World Cup.

Al Thumama Stadium

Al Thumama Stadium is situated near the Hamad International Airport and has a capacity of 40 000. The stadium was named after a native tree found in the area.

Education City Stadium

The Education City Stadium is built alongside the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development and has got its name for this reason. The capacity at the ground is 40 000.

Ahmad bin Ali Stadium

The Ahmad bin Ali Stadium was first demolished and then rebuilt for the World Cup and has a 40 000 capacity. On conclusion of the tournament the stadium will be reduced to a 21 000 seater and the seats will be donated to various football projects.

Khalifa International Stadium

The Khalifa International Stadium is the only one of the eight venues that was in existence before Qatar was awarded the hosting rights. The venue is situated on the outskirts of Doha and has a capacity of 45 416.

Al Janoub Stadium

The Al Janoub Stadium was the first of the seven new venues to be completed and has a capacity 40 000.

This tournament is like no other in many aspects especially with regards to the time of year that it is taking place. Qatar itself Is a country rich in mineral gases and they enjoy high standard of living, but the main problem players will face is the stifling heat even in winter. The tournament features a new type of ball from Adidas called the Rihla which means travel book in Arabic. The official song of the World Cup is Hayya Hayya which means Bring Together

The History of the Tournament

The Qatar World Cup is the 22nd edition of the tournament that was first held in 1930 in Uruguay and was won by the hosts. There have been eight different winners of the World Cup with Brazil winning the Cup on five occasions. They are the only country to have played in very edition of the tournament. Here is a list of past winners and hosts.

• Five time champions Brazil have now gone 20 years without a title and this is their longest period between wins so they are due a win therefore the bookies have them as favourites
• Germany has been in the Championship match a record eight times winning four times and losing four.
• The Netherlands have been runners up three times without lifting the trophy
• Belgium and England are among the leading teams to lift the trophy by most bookies but Belgium have never won a major football event and England’s one and only World Cup triumph was in 1966

Our very first December World Cup promises to be an exciting adventure in the heat of the desert where players need to acclimatize quickly to conditions that are alien to most of them. When trying to pick out a winner in this tournament it is hard to look past the bookies favourites of Brazil and France. The other South American country that can challenge for the title is Argentina but their hopes lie with the little maestro Messi in what is his last World Cup.

This edition brings the curtain down on the great Ronaldo’s international career as well and no doubt he will want to exit as the Golden Boot winner. The other contenders for top goals scorer are Messi, England’s Harry Kane, Brazils Neymar and of course Frances super star striker Mbappe.

In order to stand the best chance of winning the Golden Boot the players must hope that his country goes deep into the tournament, and this is where we think Ronaldo has a disadvantage as Portugal is not tipped to go far in the tournament.

Brazil looks to extend their record to six titles while Germany knows a win for them will see them join the Brazilians with five wins. This could be the year that either the Netherlands or Belgium win their first title as they certainly have the players that can do it.