2018 World Cup Group Odds to Win and Advance

2018 World Cup Group Odds to Win and Advance

The group draw for the 2018 World Cup just took place on Friday, December 1 and BetOnline has already posted odds to win and advance from each group. Here’s a look at Groups A-G:

GROUP A

Uruguay are the -350 favorites to win the group and have the best odds at +100 to win Group A. This is by far the weakest group in the World Cup, and I’ve been advocating going against Russia to advance. At +125, I would definitely be taking Egypt to advance along with Uruguay at -350.

GROUP B

Portugal and Spain are both big favorites to advance from this group, and I don’t see much value anywhere. Iran put in a solid effort in the 2014 World Cup and Morocco aren’t too bad either, but don’t think either have much of a chance to advance.

GROUP C

I really like this group overall, and think the value lies on Peru at +260 to advance. They were impressive to qualify out of South America and I’d much prefer betting Peru at +260 than Denmark at -175. Australia is the weakest of the group, but they’ll be tough to beat in all 3 of their group matches.

GROUP D

You’ll hear a LOT about Iceland leading up to the World Cup but I’m not really on that bandwagon. I really like Croatia and Nigeria, but just wish they weren’t in the same group as Argentina. However, I still think there’s value on Nigeria at +240 to advance from the group, and every match in this group will be worth watching.

GROUP E

Everyone expects Brazil to advance and so do I. The intriguing part of this group is who else will advance with them, and I think it’s completely up in the air. Switzerland and Serbia are both staunch defensive teams that have the ability to score, while Costa Rica were the most impressive “longshots” at the 2014 World Cup. I’m passing on this group completely as of now, and am curious to see where odds shift over the coming months.

GROUP F

Germany are the cream of the crop in the group, the most consistent team and the defending World Cup champions. I don’t see them having much trouble advancing, similar to Brazil, so it’s a matter of who else joins them. I haven’t been that high on Sweden, and although South Korea will be a tough team, I don’t see them advancing either. At +135, I really like the value on Mexico as an underdog (who played in Russia last summer) to advance from the group. That’s likely my trendiest pick and those odds may come down soon.

GROUP G

Good luck if you’re betting England in a World Cup because I’m not prepared to do it. Yet. Belgium should be strong enough to advance but I’ve got my eye on Tunisia. A lot of people will overlook the African teams but I think this is a really good crop of teams for 2018. You can probably wait to get better odds than +300 on Tunisia to advance since no one will really be betting on them, but I definitely think they could be a good play.

GROUP H

This group is snug and is the most ‘diverse’ group in terms of countries located around the world (Asia, South America, Africa, Europe). I really don’t see a bad bet to win/advance right now and could be talked into anyone at this point.