The Complete World Cup Qatar 2022 Betting Schedule for You

The long countdown is nearly done, and Qatar 2022 is coming at full pace. See whether the team you back is also rated by the bookies. With the full tournament schedule right here, we will make sure you never miss a bet. Lots of teams have what it takes to lift the trophy on the 18th December 2022, which makes the event all the more exciting. The group stage gets things going on the 20 November.

Seeing 64 international matches packed into 29 days only happens every four years, and each game comes with hundreds of betting markets. With 48 matches in the group stage, you get the chance to put your accumulator bets on early.

Most popular markets

Outright winner

The World Cup gives punters a shot at serious profit if they pick the right outright winner. The odds can be very generous, particularly when the winner is not one of the fancied sides. Backing a team like Germany, who nearly always do well at World Cups, makes good sense

Multibet

A multibet gives punters the best shot at a big win, since you pick several teams in a single bet. The more selections you add, the higher the odds climb.
At the World Cup, the smart money should go on multi bets, because the busy fixture list gives punters lots of chances to make good money. Watch out for odds booster deals from online sites.

Head to Head betting

The odds on this kind of bet are shorter because only two teams are involved, yet one match can carry hundreds of markets. One option is the 1×2 bet, known as a three way bet on the home team (1), draw(x) or away team (2). These bets are settled on the full time result and leave out extra time and penalty shootouts. With a Double Chance bet you back the home team to win or draw(1x) or the away team to win or draw( 2x). The double chance also has a third choice, where either side wins (1or2). Handicap betting is very popular, particularly when one team is a big favourite.

The favourite might begin on a -1.5 handicap, which means they have to win by 2 or more clear goals for the bet to land. You can also bet on how many goals are scored in a game, which is called the over/under bet. The bookie will set a +2.5 goals line for punters. You choose whether to go over 2.5 or under 2.5 goals. Keep an eye out for bookies with the Build a Bet feature, which lets you combine several bets on one match.

Winner of the group

You can make very good money with a multi bet if you correctly call the winner of every group. It would have eight selections, and teams like Brazil, France and England could serve as bankers since they are strong favourites to win their groups.

Golden Boot winner

The race to finish as the World Cup's top goal scorer always creates a buzz, and this year is no different. Harry Kane, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe are among the favourites to lead the scoring charts, though you can never rule out the likes of Ronaldo and Messi. This kind of bet always comes with attractive odds.

Which team will go further in a head to head contest?

Another bet open to punters is predicting whether, say, England will last longer in the tournament than Belgium. You can also back both teams to go out at the same stage, which naturally pays the best odds.

Difference between a Multibet and a Single Bet

A single bet is a bet on the outcome of one match or one event within a match, such as Both teams to score (BTTS). A multibet, or accumulator, is a bet made up of two or more selections. Every selection has to win for the bet to pay out. The more selections you add, the bigger the odds. Keep in mind that higher odds mean higher risk, but also bigger rewards.

Punters can use various strategies over the course of the tournament. If you plan to back over 2.5 goals in a game, study the defence and attack of both sides. When both teams defend well, the under 2.5 goals option is the better bet. For the top goal scorer market, think about things like whether the player takes penalties for his team and whether his side will get out of the group stage. Pick a top scorer from a weak team and he may only get three games if his country goes out in the group stage.

Only one host nation has ever failed to get past the group stage, so think about backing Qatar to pull off at least one upset in their group. A multi bet worth considering is backing the big favourites to win their groups. Sides like England, Brazil, Netherlands, Argentina and France would make a strong group winners multi bet.

Because this tournament is shorter than earlier World Cups, you need to weigh up the squad depth of the teams you back, as there are few rest days between games. In the round of 16, the group runners up will meet the group winners, so upsets are possible, especially since either Germany or Spain will end up second in their group.

This World Cup stands out in many ways, but mostly because it is the first one played in November/ December. Players will arrive straight from club duty, whereas earlier tournaments came after the European season had ended, so tiredness could be a factor, particularly for teams without much squad depth.

Qatar 2022 lasts just 29 days, and player welfare should be taken into account because there are fewer rest days between games, although with stadiums only an hour apart and very little travel, this should not be a big issue. At Russia 2018 the stadiums were far apart, which meant longer gaps between games to allow for travel.

Qatar 2022 follows a format very similar to previous tournaments, with the group stage leading into the round of 16, the quarter finals, the semifinals and finally the final on the 18th December. The third place playoff is played the day before, on the 17TH December.

The opening stage has eight groups of four teams and starts on the 20 November. Four matches will be played each day across 12 days. The top two sides go through to the round of 16, which starts on the 3rd of December. The quarter finals begin on the 9th of December, and the semi-finals are on the 13th and 14th December.

As we said above, the 2022 World Cup is the first ever staged in the winter months of November and December. That has caused challenges never seen before for football leagues all over the world. Our local PSL normally takes a break over the festive season, but this time the break will last two months. There will be no PSL games from the 6th November until the 7th January 2023. Player burnout should not be a big worry for the PSL when the league restarts, since only five PSL players will be at the tournament.

European leagues will take a big hit, because winter is when most fixtures are played, particularly in the English Premiership. The Premiership kicks off earlier this year on the 6th August, the final round before the World Cup is on the 13th November, and the league restarts on the 26th December, just 8 days after the final.

• At earlier World Cups, travel between games was a big issue, but in Qatar the stadiums will be no more than 46 miles apart (75km), compared to Russia 2018 where stadiums were up to 2687 miles from each other. This will give players enough time to recover.
• The Qatar heat, even in winter, will matter, and players from South American sides like Brazil and Argentina will have an edge over European teams like France and England because they are used to high temperatures, unlike the European players, and this could affect the betting markets.
• At 29 days, this will be the shortest World Cup ever, four days less than the usual 32 days of earlier tournaments. The 2026 edition will be a bigger one, as it grows to 48 teams. There will be 80 matches, a 25% increase on this year's 64 matches

it is not easy, so we have put in the time to research the top bookies on the market in depth. We applied our strict criteria and looked at everything that makes a great bookie, from welcome bonuses to strong odds and, of course, World Cup promotions. Here is our list of the best bookies in South African online betting.

• Sportingbet
• Betway
• Hollywood Bets
• Gbets
• Sunbet
• Supabets