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This is quite an open World Cup and there are five teams at the top of the market all available at under ten to one. We will look at each of these five favourites below:
The outright favourites across the board this year are Spain and it is easy to see why. They have an outstanding head coach in Carlo Ancelotti and are top of the FIFA ranking .
It has been over two years since they last lost a game in normal time and they have played top teams in that time, only losing the Nations league final on penalties. In every game they play they will be the favourites to win and there is good reason for this, there is not a weak area anywhere in the team.
They are in a pretty tough group but expecting to win the World Cup by only having easy games is unrealistic, Spain are justified to be favourites.
To us this is a surprise, England are second favourites and on paper they have had a good run coming into the tournament in terms of not losing, but some of their wins were laboured and hard work and some of the draws from winning positions a worry over concentration and stamina.
The team are well balanced and with German coach Thomas Tuchel on the bench it could add the tactical nuance required to get them over the line and claim a major title, after coming close a few times recently. It is this recent form that is likely propping up their title chances but for us they are likely to leave the group but unlikely to progress deep into the tournament.
The squad still contains some of the veterans of the 2018 World Cup winning team and 2022 finalists, so there is obviously an abundance of experience but some are beginning to look tired. They are completed by new faces and this generation contains skill, no question about it, the question is whether or not as a team they will all be able “click”.
They start with a difficult "group of death" but on the plus side once that is cleared the next few games are likely to be relatively easy as they advance. It is understandable why France are amongst the favourites and so far the odds most represent their chances and could be worthy of a bet.
As the tournament has grown closer the odds on Brazil winning it have slowly drifted out, not dramatically, but that has been the trend. What has not helped is some recent results, for example losing to both Bolivia and Japan in friendlies at the end of last year.
The other thing that has not helped is since the draw has been made it has become apparent that their likely path to the final will bring them to the quarter-finals against England and the semi-finals against Argentina. If they finish first...
If Brazil finishes second then they could face France in the quarter-finals and Spain in the semi-finals. Either way looks tough but having said that there is no way to get to the World Cup final without playing the best teams in the World so perhaps this element is being overdone.
Brazil are Brazil, which says it all, you never, ever, write them off too soon. It is understandable they are amongst the leaders in the betting.
As the current holders it is fair to say that Argentina are the team to beat. They still have Lionel Messi has "aged" but his mere presence in the squad will still inspire his teammates and intimidate their opponents. There are a lot of other positives too, many teams will struggle with the condition but in the recent Copa America that they won, it was held in the USA and showed that it can withstand them just fine.
The team is a comfortable mix of experience with Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez and also the "new" stars Almada, Paz, Mastaduno, etc.
The odds on Argentina appear generous and are also worth considering.
The home nations usually do better than expected in World Cups. You have to go way back to France in 98 to find a team that has actually won it, but many have over performed, South Korea when they were joint hosts got to the Semi finals, Russia when they hosted were only denied the Semis because of a penalty shoot out, even countries who have not progressed far still did better than they might have othewise.
It could be a mixture of extra support from the crowd, not having to travel to unfamiliar places with different climate and food and everything that goes with it. Nothing on its own enough to make a team World Cup winners perhaps but the home nations certainly have an edge.
⭐ The odds do not really reflect that and both the USA and Mexico have half decent teams, so the odds on offer now are value.
(You can include Canada in this logic but the Canadian team is still a tier below the USA and Mexico so unlikely to leave the group stage regardless)
It does not take a genius to guess why we have Norway as a team to watch, it is that man Erling Haaland. He can turn games on their head all by himself and having him up front (as well as tracking back to defend) is a wild card where it is always impossible to rule Norway out of the game, regardless of who they face.
When he is on form, he is unplayable, and so Norway to win outright is going to be an interesting bet at some fancy odds.
Under Hajime Moriyasu the Japanese team is one of the most tactically disciplined sides in the world. They play as a unit with fast transitions, organised pressing, and they defend as one. There is no “superstar” in the squad which has helped keep them under the radar and in a tournament not relying on one player can be an advantage.
Japan has already shown in past World Cups that they can mix it with the big boys having beaten Germany and Spain at the 2022 World Cup, they beat Brazil late last year in a friendly and have been consistently competitive against top European sides
⭐ Of course they are unlikely to be able to go all the way, but the odds on offer look like great value just in case and to give an extra runner in the race.
Since 1930 13 countries have played in a world cup final making it one of the hardest competitions to win internationally. From these only 8 nations have had the honour of lifting the famous Jules Rimet trophy while 5 have fallen at the final hurdle losing in the final match. All these teams were from South America or Europe, the two traditional powerhouses in this competition.
12 more teams have made it to at least the semi finals in the competition and competed in the 3rd/4th playoff match. 8 European nations, and 1 each from North America (USA), Asia (South Korea), Africa (Morocco) and South America (Chile).
All the past finalists are listed below.
| Flag | Country | Won | Runners Up | Semi Finals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Brazil | 5 (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002) | 2 (1950 *, 1998) | 4 (1938, 1978, 1974, 2014) |
 | Germany | 4 (1954, 1974 , 1990, 2014) | 4 (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002) | 5 (1934, 1958 1970, 2006, 2010) |
 | Italy | 4 (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006) | 2 (1970, 1994) | 2 (1978, 1990) |
 | Argentina | 3 (1978, 1986, 2022) | 3 (1930, 1990, 2014) | 0 |
 | France | 2 (1998, 2018) | 2 (2006, 2022) | 3 (1958, 1982, 1986) |
 | Uruguay | 2 (1930, 1950) | 0 | 3 (1954, 1970, 2010) |
 | England | 1 (1966) | 0 | 2 (1990, 2018) |
 | Spain | 1 (2010) | 0 | 1 (1950) |
 | Netherlands | 0 | 3 (1974, 1978, 2010) | 2 (1998, 2014) |
 | Hungary | 0 | 2 (1938, 1954) | 0 |
 | Czech Republic | 0 | 2 (1934, 1962) | 0 |
 | Sweden | 0 | 1 (1958) | 3 (1938, 1950, 1994) |
 | Croatia | 0 | 1 (2018) | 2 (1998, 2022) |
