World Cup 2018: Who are the favourites?

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You can feel it in the air. It’s the tension of the upcoming World Cup. Starting June 14, we’ll be witnessing numerous hat-tricks, tactical concerns, moments of glory and disappointment. However, the critical question needs to be answered: who are this championship’s leading contenders for the trophy?

Predicting the winner out of 32 teams is not an easy task. It’s nearly similar to playing online slots, actually. However, we need to realize that some countries just have better players than others. But tournaments like these wouldn’t be as entertaining if predictions wouldn’t be proven wrong. I mean, nobody wants to see the strongest team win, year in, year out.

Recently the bookies have revealed what appears to be a comprehensive list of favourites, based on statistics and mathematical probability. There aren’t any new name on the list, but still, after seeing the top 5 contenders, I can say that it looks promising.

What are the odds?

Brazil 9/2
Germany 9/2
France 11/2
Spain 6/1
Argentina 9/1


So it looks like Brazil and Germany have the most significant chances of making it to the finals and actually winning. However, France and Spain are looking pretty good on that list too, with a discrepancy of only two and three standard deviations. Argentina closes the top-five list. Their chances of winning are two times slimmer than Brazil’s and Germany’s, but doesn’t anticipation make the game even better?

Now, what about the underdogs that have great potential? My favourite part of any World Cup is to see how a team emerges victorious in a match with a Championship top dog. It turns the tables for a considerable part of the planet, and the entire Tournament becomes even more entertaining.

How about a wild guess?

There is a handful of teams that I’m confident will make a substantial move towards the semis (at least). My personal favourites are Egypt and Senegal. Indeed, an unorthodox choice, but I find that we should take a break from the usual suspects we normally see in the quarters, semis, and finals. Senegal, for instance, had performed really well in 2002 by beating France 1:0. This year the bookies have awarded them the odds of 150/1 towards winning, which isn’t spectacular, I know, but practically speaking, it may go a long way.

Furthermore, football-wise, Egypt has been the most prolific African country ever, considering they’ve taken the African football cup seven times. Unfortunately, they did not have the chance to make a massive impact on the world stage just yet. Nevertheless, I strongly believe they’ll be a strong contestant.

Additionally, besides the countries mentioned above, there is a list of countries with an equal lust for victory, which has performed really well over the years. Belgium comes next after Argentina with an 11 to 1 chance of winning, followed England with 16 to 1. Portugal and Uruguay clock in at 25 to 1.

Let us know who your personal favourites are for the upcoming World Cup! Thank you for reading and the best of luck!

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