Who Will Win the World Cup 2022? A Betting Guide to Qatar 2022.

Introducing the World Cup 2022 

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is the highlight of the sporting year, with 32 international teams battling to lift the prestigious trophy. 

Our in-depth guide will help you decide who will be the outright winner, show you the most popular betting markets and where to bet. Let’s get stuck in!  

Best Betting Sites to bet on World Cup 2022

How to Bet on the Outright Winner 

The 2022 World Cup provides punters with thousands of wagering opportunities, but one market stands head and shoulders above the rest – outright winners! 

Some bookmakers priced up this tournament as soon as the 2018 edition finished, highlighting the popularity of this particular market. 

Ante-post betting gathers pace as the World Cup approaches, with punters eager to take advantage of what are often perceived to be better value odds. 

The outright market remains in place throughout the tournament, with bookmakers adjusting their prices based on how the teams perform. 

Whether you decide to bet before a ball has been kicked or when you’ve got some form to go on, wagering on the outright market is great fun. The question is, who will win the World Cup 2022? 

Strategy to Bet on the Outright Winner 

With 32 nations competing in the 2022 World Cup punters are spoilt for choice, but there are ways to narrow down the potential outright winners. These are as follows: 

  • Statistics: Only eight nations have previously won the World Cup – Brazil, Germany, Italy, Uruguay, Argentina, France, Spain and England. 
  • Odds: The last five winners of the World Cup – Brazil, Italy, Spain, Germany and France – were priced at 12/1 or less in the ante-post market. 
  • Recent Form: As with any football competition, it can often pay to back the form team at the World Cup. For example, France looked likely winners of the 2018 edition from a very early stage. 
  • Groups: The draw for the opening phase often plays a big part in who goes on to win the tournament. Keep an eye on big nations being drawn in the same group, as this can make their route to the final much tougher. 

Who are the Favourites? 

As we have already mentioned, the bigger football nations are always at the forefront of the betting when the World Cup comes around. 

Ahead of the 2022 tournament in Qatar, the top bookmakers have placed the following five teams at the head of the outright market. 

  • Brazil 
  • France 
  • England 
  • Spain 
  • Germany 

Brazil’s place at the top of the outright market is understandable given they have been a World Cup winner on five previous occasions. 

The Samba Kings breezed through the South American qualification group and could be a tough nut to crack in Qatar. 

However, it is worth noting that they have not lifted the trophy since 2002 and have imploded on more than one occasion in recent tournaments. 

Reigning champions France will fancy their chances of retaining the trophy, although history suggests they will find it difficult to achieve the feat. 

Brazil were the last team to go back-to-back in the World Cup in 1962. They came close to repeating the trick in 1998, but were beaten by France in the final. 

No winner of the World Cup has progressed to the final since then, and it would be a surprise if France were able to buck the trend. 

England are another team who look too short in the World Cup winner betting, particularly since their last success came on home soil in 1966. 

There has been plenty of talk about improvement under Gareth Southgate, but the England manager is yet to prove he can get the job done in a major tournament. 

His team missed a golden opportunity to win the 2020 European Championships and backing them to win the World Cup is a risky move. 

Spain are likely to attract plenty of interest in the outright market after comfortably finishing top of Group B in Europe’s qualifiers. 

However, they flattered to deceive at Euro 2020 and better value appears to lie with much-improved Germany. 

The four-time winners have rediscovered their best form since Hansi Flick took over as manager and they could be extremely difficult to beat in Qatar. 

Previous World Cup Winners 

The winners of the last ten World Cup tournaments are as follows: 

  • 2018 – France 
  • 2014 – Germany 
  • 2010 – Spain 
  • 2006 – Italy 
  • 2002 – Brazil 
  • 1998 – France 
  • 1994 – Brazil 
  • 1990 – West Germany 
  • 1986 – Argentina 
  • 1982 – Italy 

Betting on the Underdogs 

History has shown that betting on underdogs to win the World Cup is a sure-fire way to lose money. 

A quick look at the last five finals highlights how difficult it is for lower-ranked teams to progress that far in the tournament. 

Only Netherlands and Croatia have bucked the trend of big nations reaching the final during the 21st century, and both were beaten. 

However, there have been several occasions where underdogs have made it to the semi-finals, including Turkey and South Korea’s run to the last four in 2002. 

Croatia (1998), Sweden (1994), Bulgaria (1994) and Poland (1982) are other examples of teams who have secured a top four finish at previous World Cup tournaments. 

With that in mind, wagering on the ‘team to reach the semi-finals’ market is a sensible way to approach betting on the underdogs. 

Teams such as Croatia and Denmark could be worth considering, particularly if they receive a good draw in the group stage.