2022 World Cup: Best Bets, Odds and Picks

Billions of people around the globe will tune in for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, the world’s premier sporting event.

It’s an exciting time for bettors who get the rare luxury of World Cup betting action in November. The World Cup odds table highlights the favorites along with some dark horses to consider for this year’s tournament.

2022 FIFA World Cup

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to be the 22nd running of the FIFA World Cup competition, the quadrennial international men’s football championship contested by the senior national teams of the member associations of FIFA.

It is scheduled to take place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022. This will be the first World Cup ever to be held in the Arab world, and the second World Cup held entirely in Asia after the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan.

In addition, the tournament is scheduled to be the last with a 32-team field; the field is slated to increase to 48 teams for the 2026 tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Due to Qatar’s intense summer heat and humidity, this World Cup will be held from late-November to mid-December, making it the first tournament not to be held in May, June, or July and to take place in the northern autumn; it will be played in a reduced timeframe of around 29 days.

The opening match will be contested between Qatar and Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor. The final is due to be held on 18 December 2022, which is also Qatar National Day. The reigning World Cup champions are France.

2022 World Cup Odds & Predictions : Brazil the Best Bets in Qatar?

Brazil are the current betting favorites in the latest World Cup odds. Brazil (+400 at DraftKings) have a 20% implied probability to win the World Cup outright, so a successful $100 futures bet on Brazil would pay out $500 total ($400 in profit).

There are a number of contenders to win the first FIFA World Cup hosted by a Middle Eastern country, though, so check out our World Cup predictions before placing your bets.

How to bet on the 2022 World Cup?

There are numerous ways to bet on the 2022 World Cup from the outright winner to which teams will make the semi-final, to who will win their groups or which player will score the most goals.

In this article, I’ll walk you through all the different ways you can bet and then give you some of our favorite bets for each type. All odds will be courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

Individual Game Bets

The first way you can bet on the 2022 World Cup is the way you can bet on any match. In the Group Stage of the tournament, you can bet on either team to win the match (betting on the moneyline) or you can bet on a draw. Since this is the round-robin portion of the tournament, draws are allowed until the Group Stage is over.

Outright Winner

Another popular bet is to bet on who will come away as World Cup champions. You can find this under the “Team Futures” section.

Double Chance Winner

The Double Chance winner is an intriguing option for the 2022 World Cup, where you can bet on two potential winners and if EITHER one of them wins the championship, you hit on the bet. Obviously, the odds for this are lower, but something “chalky” like Brazil-Argentina (+180) or Brazil-Spain (+250) are still plus money, and you could take a chance on Argentina-Spain (+300) or even Argentina-Netherlands (+350).

Finalist

Another easy-to-understand bet is to bet on a team to simply make the Finals. Obviously, here you want to look at the potential breakdown of the knockout rounds and see who could feasibly have a winnable path to the title match.

Semi-Finalist

Betting on a team to make the semi-finals is a similar strategy to the finals in terms of looking at the knockout draw and seeing how things could break.

Top FIFA World Cup 2022 predictions

Sutton is fading France, even though the defending champions are among the Qatar 2022 favorites at 13-2. France got a favorable draw in Group D with Denmark, Australia and Tunisia. Les Bleus has a talented squad, but Sutton believes their recent form coupled with injuries to key players will be France’s downfall in Qatar.

“France will feature one of the deadliest attacks at the 2022 World Cup, with Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema and Antoine Griezmann spearheading the front line. However, I expect the defending champions to struggle without Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante in the middle of the pitch,” Sutton told SportsLine. “In addition, four of the last five defending World Cup champions have been eliminated in the group stage at the following tournament.”

Another surprise: Sutton expects Belgium to make a deep run in the 2022 World Cup bracket, even though they’re 16-1 longshots in the 2022 World Cup odds. Belgium is ranked No. 2 in the FIFA World Rankings, but the Red Devils aren’t among the favorites to lift the trophy. Sutton thinks Belgium has the talent to make history and is predicting they’ll make it all the way to the final in his World Cup 2022 bracket.

“This is likely the final opportunity for Belgium’s “golden generation” to win a title,” Sutton said. “Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku headline a Belgium squad that currently ranks No. 2 in the world and the Red Devils also feature one of the world’s best goalkeepers in Thibaut Courtois. Courtois was awarded the Yashin Trophy for the best goalkeeper of the 2021-22 season, and he will be a major factor in Belgium’s success in Qatar.” See Sutton’s other 2022 World Cup picks at SportsLine.

Winner odds for World Cup 2022: Portugal the dark horses?

The World Cup kicks off on November 20 when host nation Qatar and Ecuador meet in Group A at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor.

You can find all the latest prices for the outright winner below, with South American heavyweights Brazil and Argentina heading the market.

World Cup 2022 odds

• Brazil @ 15/4 with bet365
• Argentina @ 11/2 with bet365
• France @ 13/2 with bet365
• England @ 8/1 with bet365
• Spain @ 8/1 with bet365
• Germany @ 10/1 with bet365
• Netherlands @ 14/1 with bet365
• Portugal @ 14/1 with bet365
• Belgium @ 16/1 with bet365
  28/1 bar

All odds courtesy of bet365 are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.

2022 FIFA World Cup betting odds

• Brazil +400
• Argentina +550
• France +650
• England +800
• Spain +850
• Germany +1000
• Netherlands +1200
• Belgium +1400
• Portugal +1400
• Denmark +2800
• Uruguay +5000
• Croatia +5000
• Senegal +8000
• Serbia +8000
• Switzerland +8000
• USA +13000
• Poland +13000
• Mexico +13000

Brazil and Argentina justified as betting favorites

Brazil may not be the force of yesteryear but they still boast great strength in depth and it is easy to see why they are the betting favorites.

The attack is bolstered by the likes of Neymar, Vinicius Junior, Gabriel Jesus and Roberto Firmino, they have two world-class goalkeepers in Alisson and Ederson, while their center-back area features Thiago Silva, Marquinhos and Eder Militao.

Defensive-minded midfielders Casemiro and Fabinho provide great protection but if there is a weakness it’s in the wing-back areas, while there is no obvious creative influence to supply a talented forward line.

They are also housed alongside Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon in a very winnable Group H and should reach the latter stages of the tournament. However, topping the group may see them dealt a tougher path to the final.

They don’t appear to hold any stronger claims than Argentina, who defeated them to win the Copa America in July last year and head to Qatar unbeaten in their last 35 matches.

Argentina’s talisman Lionel Messi has rediscovered his magic for Paris St-Germain this season and they have found a defensive partnership that works with Cristian Romero slotting alongside Nicolas Otamendi.

A group of Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland should hold few fears and they are expected to make their presence felt in the competition.

Two nations at the top of the betting worth opposing, however, are England and France.

How to make 2022 World Cup picks

Green has locked in his best bets to win the 2022 World Cup, along with the top picks to win each group. He’s revealed how far Mexico, England and Portugal will advance in Qatar. He’s also identified a dark horse team that is listed higher than 75-1 who have a chance to shock the world and win it all. You can only see them here.

So who will win the World Cup 2022?

And which longshot could stun the soccer world? Check out the odds below and then visit SportsLine to see Martin Green’s best bets for the 2022 World Cup, all from the proven soccer expert who has generated almost $35,000 for $100 bettors over the past four seasons, and find out.