With Costa Rica becoming the final team to land a slot at the FIFA 2022 World Cup, the full line-up of World Cup odds is now ready to explore with online betting. From the world cup outright winner to match odds, the big build up is on.
The 32 qualified nations will descend on Qatar in November. Who rises to the top to be crowned World Champoins and land some punters their World Cup winner odds?
The 2022 World Cup is in Qatar, the first nation in the Arab World to play host to the world’s biggest soccer tournament. The World Cup has only once previously been held in Asia when South Korea and Japan were joint hosts in 2002.
The timing of the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup is completely different. It will be the first time that it has not been hosted in May, June or July of the calendar year. FIFA decided to push the tournament back to a November start.
That’s to avoid the extreme temperatures that would have been in place if the tournament had been held in its usual calendar slot. Instead, for this first winter World Cup for Northern Hemisphere countries, the tournament will start on November 21st and draw to a conclusion with the World Cup Final on December 18th.
Unusually the first opportunity for live betting World Cup odds doesn’t feature the host nation. The first match of the tournament is Senegal v Netherlands on November 21st in Doha. Later that same day hosts Qatar will face Ecuador in Al Khor with both of those matches from Group A.
Long before the actual kick-off of the 2022 World Cup, there was a stack of World Cup betting odds for punters to dive into. The World Cup qualifiers around the world featured hundreds of matches in the different confederations.
The CONMEBOL qualification process for example started way back in 2020. Here’s how things shook out in the World Cup qualifiers around the world.
The final round of qualification in the AFC was broken down into two groups of six, with each nation playing the other group members home and away. The top two winners from each section went through.
The two third-place finishers played off to see who would go through to the inter-confederation playoff with the fifth-place finisher from CONMEBOL. That ended up being Australia vs Peru and the Socceroos won the tie via a penalty shoot-out to book their place in Qatar.
Qualified AFC Teams
The third and final round of qualifiers in Africa featured ten teams that had made it through from the second round as group winners. The format for the final round was play-off ties over two legs, home and away.
The biggest of those was Egypt v Senegal which the latter won in a penalty shoot-out. That means Mo Salah, one of the best forwards in the world, won’t be at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Qualified CAF teams
The third round of the CONCACAF qualifiers featured a group of eight teams. The top three after the round-robin format, automatically earned a place at the 2022 World Cup.
Fourth place finishers Costa Rica had to play an inter-confederation playoff against New Zealand, which they won.
Canada topped the CONCACAF qualification group so are back at the World Cup for the first time since Mexico ‘86. But their absence of 36 years is not the record gap that has been broken for this year’s edition.
That honour goes to Wales who are in their first FIFA World Cup in 64 years.
CONCACAF Qualified Teams
Some market favourites in World Cup winner odds come from South America where there are international heavyweights like Brazil and Argentina. The CONMEBOL qualification is the longest, and arguably the toughest campaign of all the confederations.
Each team plays 18 qualifiers across roughly two years. Brazil easily won the section. They headed the top four who went through automatically with fifth-placed Peru falling in an inter-confederation tie against Australia.
CONCACAF Qualified Teams
There will not be a representative at the 2022 World Cup from the OFC. New Zealand won the Oceania qualification final, but that only put them through to the inter-confederation playoff against Costa Rica, which they lost.
UEFA supplies the largest number of teams to the World Cup along with some stronger nations in terms of World Cup winner odds selections for the tournament. The likes of France, England, Spain, Belgium and Germany are heading to Qatar.
A total of 55 teams were involved in the UEFA qualification process. The first stage of the qualifiers saw the winner of each of the ten groups automatically earn a spot at Qatar 2022.
All the second-placed finishers from the group stage along with the two highest-ranked teams from the proceeding Nations League tournament went into a play-off knockout format.
There was a massive shock in one of the play-off semi-finals. Four-time World Cup winners and reigning European Champions Italy were humbled by North Macedonia. North Macedonia in turn, were then knocked out by Portugal in their play-off final.
Wales, Poland and Portugal were the three teams to prevail in the UEFA qualification knockout stage.
UEFA qualified teams
Brazil are the leaders in the market for FIFA World Cup 2022 odds as the Selecao produced a brilliant qualification campaign. On the back of it, the five-time World Cup winners will seek to secure their first title since 2022.
The South American giants have a star-studded squad led by the likes of Neymar, Gabriel Jesus and Vinicius Junior in attack, along with Thiago Silva, Dani Alves and Marquinhos in defence.
Brazil came through their qualification process comfortably, winning 14 of their 17 completed matches. Their qualification campaign actually isn’t done and dusted just yet as they still have one outstanding match to play against their great rivals Argentina.
That’s because the initial meeting between them in Sao Paulo in September last year was abandoned after five minutes.
When Brazil and Argentina do meet for that one outstanding fixture in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers, nothing will be at stake. Brazil are six points clear of Argentina at the top of the qualification table.
In turn, Argentina are a massive 11 points ahead of third-placed Uruguay, so whatever the result is in September, it will change nothing.
One important factor in sizing up the lay of the land in World Cup Winner odds is the draw. While there are no guarantees of how things will shake out, the bracket for the World Cup is set. Plotting the draw is a great way to plan out World Cup betting.
For example, the winner of Group A will face the runner-up from Group B in the Round of 16 when the knockout football betting starts. So it is possible to look at the draw for the group and try to chart a path through to the Final for teams.
An example can be taken from the top of the draw. In Group A, the Netherlands are the favourites in World Cup odds to win the section, as they compete against Qatar, Ecuador and Senegal. The Dutch are the strongest, highest-ranked team there.
So then it is possible to look at Group B which houses England, Iran, the United States and Wales. England are the favourite in World Cup betting odds to win that group, so the assumption could be made that the Netherlands and England would likely avoid each other and instead face lower-ranked opposition in the Round of 16.
The way that the draw is set up, that’s common. Barring big upsets in the group stage, it is usually the Quarter Finals where the real heavyweight clashes come as the stronger teams converge.
Netherlands, Senegal, Ecuador, Qatar
The Netherlands are the favourites to win Group A after producing a strong qualifying campaign from UEFA. After the shock of them missing out on qualification for the 2018 World Cup, the Dutch will be keen to make amends.
The Oranje have reached the semi-finals in three of their last four appearances at the World Cup. Reigning Africa Cup Of Nations champions Senegal, appear to be their strongest competitor.
England, Wales, USA, Iran
England are the odds-on favourites in the World Cup odds to sweep Group B at the tournament. But some indifferent form in their 2022 Nations League matches, sees the losing World Cup 2018 semi-finalists go the tournament with a bit of a cloud over them.
The United States struggled to get through their CONCACAF qualification, only just avoiding an inter-confederation play-off. They will be under pressure from Wales, while Iran are the group underdogs.
Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
Will this be Lionel Messi’s last World Cup with Argentina? One of the greatest players to ever grace the game will hope to sign off on a positive note by landing his first World Cup crown.
The Albiceleste are odds-on favourites in World Cup betting odds to win Group C. Mexico and Poland look fairly evenly matched in the race for the other qualification spot, with Saudi Arabia big outsiders.
France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia
Reigning World Champions France are in Group D and look to have a favourable draw in this section. The biggest challenger to Les Bleus in the group appears to be Denmark. The Danes had a superb 2020 European Championship campaign and are currently a strong unit. Tunisia and Australia have a lot on their hands to qualify.
Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan
This is another of the groups for World Cup 2022 betting odds that houses two strong European teams. It may boil down to simply which order former winners Spain and Germany go through to the Round of 16 in. Spain are narrow favourites to win the section.
This is not just going to be about qualifying. There should be a fierce race for the top spot because winning the section is likely to mean that the team which does, crucially avoids Belgium in the first knockout stage.
Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
Belgium are the strong favourites to sweep their way to Group F success at the World Cup. If they play to their strengths then this could be a straightforward qualification group stage for the Red Devils.
2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia are also in this group and are the favourites join Belgium in the next round. Canada make their World Cup return in this tough group, which also contains Morocco.
Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
The World Cup pre-tournament favourites Brazil are in Group G which they are the obvious favourites to win. As usual, the Selecao go into the World Cup with strong form and looking like one of the main contenders to beat.
There doesn’t appear to be much in the group to stop them from winning their 2022 World Cup group. There should be a fascinating contest between Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon to take the runner-up spot as they all look evenly-matched.
Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea
Another strong European contender is going as the favourite in Group H of this year’s World Cup. That’s Portugal who are clear odds-on favourites. But there may not be much between themselves and Uruguay.
The clash between those two will likely settle the race for top spot. South Korea and Ghana would have to defy some big World Cup odds to cause an upset.
| Year | Host Country | Winner | Runner-Up |
| 2018 | Russia | France | Croatia |
| 2014 | Brazil | Germany | Argentina |
| 2010 | South Africa | Spain | Netherlands |
| 2006 | Germany | Italy | France |
| 2002 | South Korea/Japan | Brazil | Germany |
| 1998 | France | France | Brazil |
| 1994 | United States | Brazil | Italy |
| 1990 | Italy | West Germany | Argentina |
| 1986 | Mexico | Argentina | West Germany |
Market Variety in World Cup Betting Odds
For World Cup 2022 odds it is not all about the outright market and picking the one team out of the 32 to go all the way and be crowned World Champions. There is a lot more betting variety to approach the tournament with.
It’s easy to expand the sports betting horizon on such a big tournament, from live betting to backing a team to at least reach a certain stage.
Options for Group Stage betting at the World Cup sees market options available not only on the section winners but also the To Qualify, To Finish Second and even To Finish Bottom markets.
So there are ways to play around with the selections at that very first stage. Those are handy options for groups which have a very strong odds-on favourite.
Another good angle into World Cup betting is the To Finish betting options. Instead of backing Germany for example to win the tournament outright, you can scale back expectations on them.
It could be backing them in the To Reach Semi-Final market. Other options are To Reach Quarter-Finals or to Reach The Final.
When World Cup football betting is broken down into matches, then the number of markets and options just grows exponentially. The exploration of markets like the Correct Score, Half-Time/Full-Time Handicap, Margins, Totals and Both Teams To Score adds so many layers to World Cup odds for individual fixtures.
Live in-play betting on the World Cup takes that even further, with a dynamic World Cup bet staked on a game while it is being played. The FIFA World Cup is broadcast around the globe, so the option to sit in front of the big screen, watch a game unfold and then building live bets for that fixture is another approach.
Other popular live betting markets for World Cup 2022 odds include the Next Team To Score, Final Score and Match Result. With a total of 64 matches to be played at the 2022 World Cup, there is going to be a lot to follow along with.
It is worth touching upon one of the most popular World Cup betting markets beyond the outright winner. The World Cup is the biggest stage of all in the sport. The field is packed with a star-studded array of the top goalscoring talent from around the globe.
While players try to come together for the good and great of their respective countries, it’s not all there is. A lot of players will also go to the World cup with a personal goal in mind of finishing as the top goalscorer.
Reigning World Champions France alone boasts Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema. But it is England’s main man Harry Kane who is the current favourite in Top Goalscorer World Cup betting odds 2022. Kane won the personal accolade at the 2018 World Cup.
Other key contenders in this exciting market include Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku. The more matches that a player gets at the tournament, the greater their chance of walking away with the Golden Boot. So the front-runners in the betting market are always from the leading teams.
| Year | Player | Country | Goals |
| Russia 2018 | Harry Kane | England | 6 |
| Brazil 2014 | James Rodriguez | Colombia | 6 |
| South Africa 2010 | Thomas Muller
David Villa Wesley Sneijder Diego Forlan |
Germany
Spain Netherlands Uruguay |
5 |
| Germany 2006 | Miroslav Klose | Germany | 5 |
| South Korea & Japan 2002 | Ronaldo | Brazil | 8 |
Much has been made about the dates for the 2022 World Cup as they are so far removed from the usual tournaments. This year’s tournament in Qatar kicks off on November 21st. The 2022 World Cup Final is booked for December 18th.
The Group Stage is where the bulk of the matches at the World Cup come from. The final matches from the first stage are played on December 2nd. Overall the tournament is slightly shorter than usual at 28 days as opposed to a more common 30 or 31.
If you are looking forward to some World Cup Live betting, to ensure that you don’t miss a match, or risk not getting your bet placed in time, there is going to be some adjustment with the time zone depending on where you are in the world.
Qatar is on Arab Standard Time and the earliest local kick-off time in the Group stage is 13:00, which translates to 6 AM Eastern Standard Time, 3:00 am Pacific Daylight Time and slightly more favourable for Europe at 11:00 am Central European Time.
Brazil are the all-time leader in terms of World Cup victories with a haul of five. They are usually the first name on the shortlist for sports betting on the FIFA World Cup. Their titles came in 1958, 1962, 1970, 19994 and most recently in 2022. Along with that, they have finished as runners-up twice and in third place twice.
From the 21 previous editions of the World Cup, Brazil have landed a top-four finish in eleven of them. Brazil have never missed a FIFA World Cup.
The next most successful nations are Italy and Germany with four wins each. Argentina, France Uruguay, England and Spain are the only other nation to have won the biggest soccer title in the world.
Planning for a World Cup starts a long time in advance and in four years the greatest soccer tournament in the world will be heading back to North America. The United States, Canada and Mexico are joint hosts of the 2026 World Cup.
There is a total of 16 cities hosting including Vancouver and Toronto, while the bulk of the matches will be hosted by the United States. Both Canada and Mexico will host ten matches each and the USA the rest. The 2026 World Cup will also be expanded to 48 participating nations for the first time.