Your ultimate guide to the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Football is among the few sports with an important and global tournament that’s only held every 4 years. Fans gather and make bets on which team will bring home the trophy. This is why the FIFA World Cup is a one of a kind event made for the truest football fans.
The FIFA World Cupin 2022 will be held in an Arab nation for the first time in Doha Qatar. As one of the most popular sports in the world, fans and punters are looking at 32 teams playing in 8 stadiums during the event. More than a million viewers from around the world are preparing for the football spectacle.
With the competition at its highest level, punters will have an exciting time choosing which elite national team to bet on. How do you get started with FIFA World Cup betting? Here is an in depth guide to placing your wagers on your favourite teams!
The proximity of the FIFA World Cup stadiums: Why does it matter?
According to close metro networks in Qatar, about 1 million attendees are expected at the FIFA World Cup. The accessibility of the stadiums is within close proximity from each other. Foreign visitors will find it easy to navigate through the stadiums unlike the Russian World Cup where each stadium is far from each other.
This means that it’s expected to have a mix of people who’ll watch the FIFA World Cup, among them are punters. If you consider watching it yourself, travel issues won’t be a problem since Qatar is closeby to neighbouring European countries.
The last host of the FIFA World Cup was held in Russia back in 2018. Because of how big the country is, buying tickets for the tournament was quite a hassle.
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Why is this important for betting? Fans are major contributors to the enjoyment of betting in general and where the games are held is integral to whether they’ll attend or not.
This means that it adds to your experience when wagering and being close to the players while betting on your team to win enhances the overall feeling and ritual of betting. Most punters watch the games themselves where their selected teams are playing.
With how easy it is to go to Qatar in 2022, it’s worth noting that you can definitely visit the stadiums and get the right feel when betting.
Sportsbet’s inplay betting type will work wonders after knowing the proximity of the stadiums within Qatar, especially when you consider going there yourself.
How the first winter FIFA World Cup can affect the players
The FIFA World Cup will be held in an Arab nation for the first time. At the same time, the games will also be experiencing cold weather as the FIFA World Cup in 2022 will occur in December.
Arab countries are regarded as nations with extreme weather. Therefore, when it’s the summer, the harsh heat is at extreme temperatures while the cold is the same.
This means that players will have to deal with the cooler weather for the very first time in the tournament’s history. How does this affect the game, players, and ultimately the punters who wagered on the teams? Here are facts that you have to understand in the Winter games:
• The cold lessens the effects of precipitation which means players can conserve more energy and have more endurance during the games. This could lead to a more competitive tournament where all players are at their peak with more power to dive to goal posts and defend their respective goals.
• Questions have surfaced where making this the new normal for the FIFA World Cup is a huge possibility. Also, the intensity of the heat when games are played during the summer is also a factor to why the World Cup’s date is moved to the end of the year. In Qatar, temperatures can reach 123°F which can cause health problems for the players.
• The winter season is where most people are available to watch the games. This explains the projected high number of fans attending.
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FIFA World Cup qualifiers explained
If there is anything bettors must understand very clearly, it’s how teams get qualified for the tournaments. The FIFA World Cup qualifying odds are easy to learn and it helps punters to make a judgement on which team deserves their wagers.
Firstly, the qualifying metric of the FIFA World Cup began on June 6, 2019 where countries from the Asian confederation played the first round matches of the same timespan.
Ever since the introduction of the qualifying metrics, the process of how tournaments are divided into different factions where each country competes is followed through the qualifiers. Basically, 6 FIFA confederations decide which of the 31 out of the 32 teams plays in competition.
The host’s team (Qatar in 2022) will have a reserved place in the standings at the World Cup. All 210 remaining FIFA association members from different confederations will then be eligible to enter the qualifying rounds where deliberation is made.
Qatar (or any host countries) is obliged to enter the Asian qualifying stage as the first 2 rounds also act as the qualification process in future AFC Asian Cups. If they end up winning or runner-ups in their divisions, the fifth best group runners wll advance.
The allocation of the 2021-22 slots for each of the FIFA confederation are as follows:
• AFC(Asia Football Confederation): 4-5 slots
• CAF(Confederation of African Football): 5 slots
• CONCACAF(Confederation of North, Central America, and the Caribbean): 3 or 4 slots
• CONMEBOL(South America Confederation): 4 or 5 slots
• OFC(Oceania Football Confederation): 0 or 1 slot
• UEFA(Union of European Football Associations): 13 slots
• Hosts: 1 slot
The lead up to the World Cup Finals starts with Groups A to H with each qualifying team battling it out to reach the top 16. The 16 qualified teams will then proceed to the knockout stage where 4 final rounds are played.
The round of 16 will then be trimmed down to only 8 games called the Quarter-finals. Once the Quarter-finals games unfold, a Semi-finals round will commence between the final 4 teams standing. Eventually, only two teams will go head to head for the eventful Finals round in the World Cup series.
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Top 4 contenders for the 2022 World Cup title
When watching the FIFA World Cup highlights, you’ll realise that the top teams usually stay consistent all throughout the decades of the tournament. The best FIFA World Cup betting tips will explain which teams are the best and have the greatest chances of winning the whole competition.
Here are the top 4 contenders for the competition that will surely help you increase your FIFA World Cup betting odds:
4. Denmark
Denmark cruised in the qualifying rounds after 7 straight wins and did not concede a single goal. The club is a formidable force, but with the other competitive teams, it’s hard to fully commit to Denmark despite their incredible players.
Under Kasper Hjulmand management, Denmark progressed quickly throughout the wait from the last World Cup and formed an offence that works for modern football. With players like Mikkel Damsgaard and Andreas Skov Olsen, the team is getting better as the World Cup nears.
However, the reason why the national team is quite low on the list is the unfortunate loss of Christian Eriksen that galvanised the team’s offence in huge ways. Without him, it’s hard to compete against the other teams that have better chances of winning.
3. Argentina
One of the best players of the game, Lionel Messi, is aiming for a World Cup win after winning the Copa America. This provides Argentina with good chances of winning as the veteran Messi might get his first World Cup win as a swan song of his illustrious career.
Aside from the football legend, the Argentinian team is motivated to step up with gifted athletes such as Emi Martinez who is emerging to be a football star of his own. In 14 caps, Martinez has now kept 9 clean sheets to prepare himself for the tournament.
With a much more improved defensive scheme, Messi will need all the help he can because of his age. As Messi gets older, he cannot be relied upon to carry games like he used to which is why Argentina is not as high on the list as people might think.
2. France
As the reigning world champions, France is the team to beat both on paper and in the eyes of the punters. After all, they know what it takes to bring home the World Cup trophy, which is why they’ve made a great choice keeping Didier Deschamps at the helm.
Their squad depth isn’t exactly amazing, although there are certainly some upcoming talents still waiting to break through. They’ll have to rely on their established stars staying fit and their manager doing magic with the cards he has been dealt.
1. Brazil
There are few teams that can match Brazil’s depth and collection of attacking talent. Their closest rivals, France, have not been at their best this season, while Spain’s ageing squad seems to be on its last legs.
Argentina and England have some talented players but need more time to find the magic formula. Denmark are plagued by off-field issues.
France are probably the only other nation who can rival Brazil for talent in the current squad and they prove very beatable in big tournaments, so perhaps it is fitting that Brazil should be the team to finally stop them from reaching a World Cup final.
Additionally, this could also be Neymar’s final World Cup as he stated he won’t be joining the 2026 FIFA World Cup because of mental fatigue and age. Regardless, the undisputed qualifiers have won 11 of the 13 games they played which should convince anyone that they are favourites to win it all.
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How to bet on World Cup teams and be successful at it?
As the FIFA World Cup nears, there are some tips that you can do to increase your chances of winning your bets. Here are a few FIFA World Cup betting tips that will help you make the smartest wagers:
Look at team compositions
The roster is what matters when it comes to winning the tournament. This means that the better the players are in a club, the higher the chances of winning.
Sometimes, there is a talent discrepancy due to lack of players for a given team, and you should quickly spot which ones are superior to others.
Look at the manager’s prowess
What's a team without their coaching managers? The best offence and defence is generated by the schemes a manager draws up on the board for the players to follow. With an elite manager, it’s hard for the opposing team to outperform when a plan has already been formulated to beat them.
Check injury reports
The worst part that could happen to a team is a player getting injured before or in the actual World Cup itself. It’s difficult to bet on a team with several players injured, and punters immediately lose confidence in them which hurts their chances of winning the wager.
Prepare for the World Cup and bet on the games here at Sportsbet!
The FIFA World Cup is just around the corner and it’s going to provide fans with the intense games they deserve. As the elite players from different continents battle against each other for the games of the ages, fans and punters alike are going to get the best experience of football that will be remembered for ages.
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Words: Vonn Consul
Image: Alamy
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