World Cup Futures

The World Cup is right around the corner with less than a month until the 1st match kickoffs. There are a lot of good quality teams from all around the world but which teams are truly the best on the planet and have a real shot at taking home the trophy? Well, it is time to find out which teams truly are contenders to win the World Cup this year and see who are just frauds that do not have the squad depth to make a deep run. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest favorite to win the World Cup this year.

Brazil +400: Brazil is coming into this tournament as the biggest favorite on the board and for very good reason. Brazil has by far one of the strongest teams in the world with the amount of talent they have at every position. Not only do they have a ton of talent at every position, but their squad depth is also one of the best in the world as they have multiple players at each position who are starting for some of the strongest clubs in Europe. This team is so strong that their bench players are good enough to be starters on the strongest clubs in Europe and the bench team for Brazil could easily beat some of these other countries in the tournament. Brazil truly does have one of the strongest teams in the world and they are a true contender to go all the way to the finals and lift the trophy.

France +600: France is coming into this tournament as the 2nd biggest favorite on the board but that is a very generous line for them considering the issues they have been dealing with on and off the pitch. This team has a lot of scoring power on their side with some of the best forwards in the world, but once you get past the starters there is a significant drop in talent to the bench players and even some of their starters have been dealing with injuries recently like Karim Benzema. This team has a very strong and deep midfield as well but once again, they are riddled with injuries to some of their more talented players and their depth is not as strong when it comes to talent. Their defense has had some major issues though, they were allowing a lot of goals in their recent Nations League matches and this defense does have a lot of depth but lacks a lot of talent with those players. Even their goalkeeping will be an issue as their starter Lloris has really been struggling recently allowing a lot of goals in his club matches with Tottenham. There are also other big issues going on off the pitch like the feud between Mbappe and Pogba, 2 of their star players, so this team is not in the best head space right now either. On the surface this looks like a strong team that can go the distance but in reality there are just too many problems for them to deal with and they will likely fizzle out of the tournament after the group stage.

Argentina +650: Argentina is the 3rd biggest favorite on this list and they have been a very dominant team in South America over the years. Their depth at the forward position is not that great but they do have a lot of talent with their starting forwards. They also have a very strong midfield and defense that does not allow many goals in their matches. They do not have the most talented players on the planet on their team but they play a very good defensive style in their matches that makes them very tough to beat. Messi has already announced that this will be his last World Cup with the team and considering they have never won with him yet, that could give his squad the boost they needed to make a deep run in this tournament. With Messi on their team along with all of their other talented forwards, and the great defense they play in every match which makes them difficult to score on, they could very well make a deep run all the way to the finals here. They are not the best option to go with as there is a chance they could run into a team with a much stronger attack and their defense may not be able to hold up as well. Argentina is a true contender to win this tournament but there are also better teams to go with who have a much better chance.

England +700: England is coming into this tournament with a ton of talent on their team but they have not been able to put it together in their matches. They have been struggling heavily in their recent matches through UEFA Nations League and scoring has been a big issue for them in these matches. England has a lot of good players on their team and it really shows as they do not allow many goals and it is very hard to score goals on them, but despite all of their talent at the forward position the goals have just not been coming for them. This is not a recent issue either, it has been an ongoing issue over the last few years going all the way back to the last Euro Cup, and this issue really stems from their manager Southgate with the style of play that he has imposed on the team. This team has some major managerial issues right now and Southgate already knows that he will no longer be the manager after the World Cup as they have been looking for his replacement. The talent is there to make a deep run but as long as Southgate remains the manager of this squad, they are not a real contender here and they will find a way to fizzle out with their defensive style of play as they will struggle to score goals. 

Spain +800: Spain is coming into this tournament as a slightly bigger underdog than England but they are dealing with the same issue as England for different reasons though. Spain has a very strong midfield and defense with the talent on their team at those positions but they really lean on that defense in their matches. Just like England, they are a team that has been struggling to score goals but for a much different reason. Unlike England, Spain does not have the talent at the forward position like they do at other positions and they lack a real goal scorer on their team. Without that vital goal scorer in their attack, they struggle to finish against even some of the worst defenses and it puts a ton of pressure on their midfield to pick up the slack. Their midfield does not have the talent to score goals though so they are dealing with the issue of having all of these good playmakers with nowhere to feed the ball to and it negatively affects the structure of their attack. Their defense is very good and does not allow many goals but they know they cannot give up many goals to win a match and that pressure is going to make them crack once they start to get deep and face some of the better attacking teams in the world. Spain has a very young team that will get a lot better with time but until then, they are not a real contender to win the World Cup this year.

Germany +1000: Germany is coming into this tournament as a big underdog but the truth is they should be a lot higher than some of these teams previously mentioned. Germany does not have a very strong or deep group of forwards on their team but the few they have are very talented. Just because they are lacking a lot of good forwards though, they make up for it with the strength of talent in their midfield which also contains a lot of scoring power. They have been having issues over the last few years but scoring has never been an issue for them as this team has a lot of firepower with all of that talent. Their issues over the years have come from their defense as they have been allowing many goals in their matches, which is part of the reason why they feel the need to score so many goals in their matches, the best defense is an unstoppable offense to them. They were not in great form during the recent Nations League matches but they have actually fixed up their defensive issues a lot from the last Euro Cup. This team really can make a deep run with all of that talent and all of those goal scorers. They can compete with any team considering how many goals they can score but defense is still their weakest link and if they run into a very good defensive team in the tournament, they could be in a lot of trouble. This team still has a much better chance of going to the final than some of the other teams covered here so Germany truly is a contender to go all the way this year.

Netherlands +1200: Netherlands is going to be the last team covered on this list as the teams that come after really do not have much of a chance and Netherlands is probably the best darkhorse on the board to win the entire tournament. This Netherlands team has a ton of talent on their team at every position and they have some of the best defensive players in the world to anchor that strong defense of theirs. They are very similar to Brazil, not in talent as Brazil still has a lot more of it, but in the sense that they have a very good and deep defense and midfield along with a good group of forwards that score a lot of goals. This team has one of the best midfield’s in the tournament that is very deep with a lot of talented players and they not only help defend as they do not allow many goals, but they really push this attack to do great things as they score a lot of goals without having a true striker on their team. They can beat any team in this tournament with the talent they have and the way they have been playing in their matches over the last year. This is one of the best teams in the World Cup this year by far and there is a very good chance that they end up in the finals and even lift the trophy. They are truly a contender to win this tournament.

We have gone over quite a few of the top favorites to win this tournament but as attractive as some of them do look, the reality is that there are a lot of fraudulent teams that simply have too many issues or lack the talent and depth to make a deep run here. The best option on the board is probably the biggest favorite going with Brazil at +400 since their team is just too stacked at every position and they are going to be very tough for anyone to beat. The next best option if looking for some value though is Netherlands at +1200 as they have one of the best teams in the tournament and are being highly undervalued as they are the best darkhorse on the board. The next best option would be to go with Germany at +1000 as you are getting a ton of value for a very good team that can score a lot of goals, but they also have their defensive issues which only makes them 3rd on this list. The 2 best options to bet futures on this World Cup are Brazil and Netherlands, and it is not even close how far ahead of everyone else these two teams are.