• World Cup Betting: A Brief History of the Competition
• The Trophy
• Betting During the Qualifiers
• World Cup Odds Outright Winner
• Favourites to Win World Cup 2022
• England Odds to Win the World Cup
• World Cup Betting Tips
• More Football Bets at 888sport

The FIFA World Cup 2022 is on the horizon and the betting odds are now available. Will France succeed in defending its title? Or will they be toppled by another world-class International football team? Here at 888sport, we have all the football betting odds and World Cup betting markets to help you make a winning World Cup bet.

World Cup Betting: A Brief History of the Competition

FIFA launched the first tournament in the 1930s in Uruguay. Back then, there were only 13 teams that took part in the live tournament, including Belgium, France, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and even the US. It wasn't the greatest success and it was watched by just a few hundred people. Uruguay was the first FIFA World Cup-winning team after defeating Argentina in the Cup Final. Despite some interruptions by the World Wars, since the 1950s, the greatest teams in the world play in the World Cup every four years. To date, the most successful country has been Brazil. The host this year is Qatar - the first West Asian nation to ever host a FIFA World Cup.

The most successful teams in the history of the championship are:

• Brazil - 5 wins
• Italy - 4 wins
• Germany- 4 wins
• Uruguay - 2 wins
• Argentina - 2 wins
• France - 2 wins

The Trophy

The FIFA World Cup trophy, also known as the Jules Rimet trophy is the highest accolade in sport - with this being one of the main events in the sporting world. The original Jules Rimet trophy was stolen from a glass cabinet in Brazil and never recovered. The new trophy is made of 18-carat gold and stands at 14.4 inches high, weighing over 6kg. However, the winners are not given this trophy, but a bronze, gold-plated replica.

Betting During the Qualifiers

Punters can first start betting on the matches and outcomes during the qualifying stages, where teams from all over the world compete for the privilege of being one of the teams to qualify for the final stages of the tournament.

If you bet on World Cup qualifiers, the most popular betting market is to win the group and get through to the final stages. This is also a good way to see which teams are on form, with teams such as England, Belgium, Denmark, France, Spain, Portugal, Croatia and Armenia all currently topping their groups. Stand out successes in these games will up their odds of winning the World Cup.

Punters can also bet on individual matches, with match-winner bets and other in-play and live matches betting odds and markets.

World Cup Odds Outright Winner

The most popular FIFA World Cup bets are outright bets - with many punters wanting to bet on who they think will win the trophy. Will they go for betting on the favourites, or will they put their stake on an outside punt? Customers can also bet on other outrights markets, including The Golden Boot, where players compete to score the most goals in the tournament.

Favourites to Win World Cup 2022

The favourites to win the World Cup will come as no surprise - Germany, France and Brazil will always be in contention, although surprisingly this year, despite some good international performances, Italy has dropped down the ranks to 9th favourites.

1. The favourites in terms of World Cup odds at 888sport are Brazil with betting odds of 11/2
2. France comes in next with odds of 6/1
3. In 3rd place is Germany, with World Cup odds of 7/1
4. 4th Place is Spain with odds of 15/2
5. The English team comes in at 5th with odds of 9/1
6. Belgium is playing exceptionally well right now and has odds of 10/1
7. Argentina has history and can never be counted out- their price is 10/1
8. In 8th spot is the Netherlands with odds of 14/1
9. Coming in 9th is Italy with odds of 16/1
10. Finishing off our 10 favourites is Portugal with odds of 18/1

The other teams to watch out for are: Belgium, Netherlands and Croatia, who have all played good football this year.

England Odds to Win the World Cup

The first thing punters will look for is the odds for England to win the World Cup. English fans will always put their wagers on England to win the World Cup, whether or not they are favourites. This year, although England isn't favourite, they have been given pretty decent World Cup winners odds. As it stands, the England odds to win World Cup 2022 at 888sport are 9/1.

Remember, the odds on England winning the World Cup will be changing constantly depending on how they play in their opening group.

World Cup Betting Tips

If you are looking to bet on the tournament, here are some World Cup betting tips to take into consideration:

• Make sure that you look through the World Cup odds carefully - including all the different markets to see which bets offer value.
• Check out the qualifiers - often these can offer great value odds. If you start out at the beginning of the tournament betting on a game with teams such as Malta, Ireland, Serbia, Austria, Poland, Turkey etc then you can often find value bets and markets. Our World Cup betting page has practically all of the odds for World Cup games - so don't just wait for the finals!
• Don't necessarily just opt to bet on the favourite. Events such as this can throw out all sorts of surprises. Putting a punt on a good outsider going in with good form - such as Belgium or Italy could be worth a shot, especially before the matches when the odds are higher.
• Add more than one bet to your bet slip! Events like this are perfect for accumulator bets - they also help to make the tournament interesting even if your team does get booted out!
• Look at the in-play market selection as well as ante-post betting. If you watch the matches, you can see the way the match is going and take advantage of the ever-changing odds.

More Football Bets at 888sport

Be sure to place all your football bets at 888sport. Not only are we the online sportsbook that offers some of the most competitive betting odds, but we are licensed and regulated in Great Britain by the Gambling Commission under account number 39028. Check out our betting odds for Euro 2020, and find all the betting markets for the biggest leagues in the world, including Premier League betting, Champions League betting and Europa League betting.