With the FIFA World Cup taking place a few weeks from now, bettors are already weighing their options on which team to favor and place their bets on in the upcoming tournament.
Bookies, the ones who place bets for the bettors, take into consideration several factors in setting the odds and possible winnings of customers, including the recent performances of the team leading to the tournament.
After a humiliating 4-0 defeat against Hungary, the Three Lions’ relegation was confirmed with a defeat against Italy, with a single goal from Giacomo Raspadori. It made the last match of the group be a mere friendly, with the English managing to draw 3×3 versus Germany.
After finishing as the cellar-dweller in A3 with a total of 3 points, all from draws, England is going to compete in Group B in the next edition of the competition.
With this in mind, does this also mean that Gareth Southgate’s team’s odds have, or even are eventually to decrease?
HOW DID WE ACTUALLY GET HERE?
Before the English team ended their Nations League campaign without a single win, they were one of the favorites to finally bring football home. An eventual World Cup victory would put an end to a 56-year-drought since England last won the tournament in 1966. It really has been quite a while, right?
However, the odds of England winning the World Cup set in Qatar in late November this year fell slightly, due to recent form. England right now dropped to fourth place in the odds, priced at 8.50, according to Bovada.lv, while Brazil leads the race. France and Germany are second and third.
Midway through their Nations League campaign, bookies ranked the team as high as second favorites to win the World Cup, keeping up with heavy-favorites Brazil, a five-time winner of the tournament, and France, the defending champions.
That might be explained also due to, according to Transfermarkt, England being the national team roster with a higher combined market value, with their team being worth €1.34billion. Brazil comes second in this list, followed by Portugal, France, and Germany.
Surprisingly, even after a winless Nations League campaign, the Three Lions is still one of the highest-ranked in terms of odds winning the World Cup, sitting at the third spot with a 7/1 card, right behind Brazil and France.
AN ENGLISH WORLD CUP VICTORY: IS IT POSSIBLE?
With captains Harry Kane and Harry Maguire leading the team, can the Three Lions defy the usual stereotype that the English always bottle it at the big stage? The last World Cup was a thrilling ride for fans, but the elimination against Croatia left a bitter taste.
Plus, the Euro 2021 memory is still fresh for English supporters. The Three Lions were this close to win a major competition once again, but a combined lack of experience during an emotional penalty shootout saw Italy snatching the trophy from their hands.
England does have a great team right now, with young players like Saka, Rashford, and Reece James, but they seem to struggle under pressure. Questions are asked over whether Harry Maguire should start for the team as well, with many fans asking Southgate to put Arsenal’s Ben White, Everton’s Conor Coady, or AC Milan’s center-back Fikayo Tomori.
In the end, though, it’s always up to Southgate to decide whom he will line up and Maguire keeps being a recurring choice. Whether the center-back is going to get back to his Euro 2021 form, where he was one of the players of the tournament, or he will continue to be the error-prone defender we have seen playing for Manchester United we will not know until we see him playing at Qatar.
Expectations On Harry Kane
If there are doubts about the competency of Maguire, fans rely heavily on putting their hopes on goalscoring machine Harry Kane. The striker, who is also captain of the national team, was the top scorer of the last World Cup, with 6 goals.
He is the favorite, according to bookmakers, to win the Golden Boot this year as well, being priced at 9.00 in the odds to get the individual award. Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar are the contenders that follow him closely.
In what concerns the award given to the best player of the tournament, won by Luka Modric in 2018, Kane is currently the fifth favorite in the odds.
Expectations are very high about the player’s ability to carry the team throughout the competition. Although England’s defense seems shaky at times, their goalscoring prowess might be able to take them to the later stages of the cup. Is it enough to give them the victory they are eagerly waiting for since 1966?
Probably not, as there are teams right now who are more experienced at this stage, such as France and Brazil, but with the right amount of luck don’t take the Three Lions out of the equation just yet.
