An Early Look at Who Will Win the World Cup in 2022

While it may seem churish to even think about the FIFA World Cup given that we’re still in the midst of a thrilling European Championships, it’s worth noting the next competition for the Jules Rimet trophy will commence in a little over 16 months’ time.

Here, France will defend their title as world champions against a raft of familiar champions, from perennial challengers like Brazil and Germany to England, Belgium and a rejuvenated Italy.

You can find some early odds on the sites listed at https://www.mybettingsite.uk/football/, but in the meantime, here’s our initial preview of the tournament.

The Qatar World Cup – A Truly Unusual Tournament

The Qatar tournament is likely to be like no other, not least because it will take place in the winter as opposed to the summer.

More specifically, it will kick-off on November 21st, with the 32 teams competing in a reduced time-frame prior to the scheduled final on December 18th.

This is due to the intense summer heat in the Middle East, which has forced tournament organisers to adjust their plans and move their entire competition to the winter months.

This is also one of the numerous reasons why the decision to host the 22nd iteration of the World Cup in Qatar has been so controversial, as the rescheduling is likely to cause significant disruption to domestic leagues and European cup competitions.

Perhaps more alarming is the allegations of human rights violations that have been made in the build-up to the tournament.

Amnesty International has specifically referred to “forced labour” during the construction of stadiums in anticipation of the tournament, with poor and unsafe working conditions apparently resulting in death of potentially thousands of migrant workers.

This is despite the drafting of worker welfare standards in 2014, and various campaigners have called for teams to boycott the tournament if FIFA refused to cancel the tournament and host it elsewhere.

On the Field – Who are the Tournament Favourites?

Of course, there’s little chance of the tournament being either postponed or rescheduled again, so we should expect the 22nd iteration of the World Cup to commence as planned on November 21st.

The question that remains, of course, is which sides are most likely to challenge for the title of World Champions next year?

France are currently the 6/1 favourites to win the World Cup and retain their 2018 title, while Les Blues have made a confident start to qualifying (they’ve won two and drawn one of their three completed qualifying matches so far).

The French will certainly be smarting after a disappointing, round-of-16 Euros exit against Switzerland, while star forward Kylian Mbappe will certainly be hoping to banish the ghost of his decisive penalty miss in the shootout against the Swiss.

Next up is Brazil, who are priced at around 11/2 by some operators and currently competing in the Copa America tournament. More specifically, they’ve earned a semi-final clash against Peru, while a potential final against arch-rivals Argentina could stand between them and a 10th Copa America title.

In truth, Brazil lacks the stellar names of teams gone by (aside from Neymar, of course), but they’re surprisingly well-organised and aggressive in midfield. This makes them a difficult team to beat, and we wouldn’t be surprised if they perform relatively well in the upcoming World Cup.

In terms of outsiders, Denmark looks like offering exceptional value at 50/1. Of course, this price may fall given that the Danes have made their way to the Euro 2002 semi-final, particularly when how impressive they’ve been in the enforced absence of Cristian Eriksen.

Denmark have also won their three World Cup qualifying matches to date, scoring 14 goals (including an 8-0 thrashing of Moldova) and conceding none.

But what about England? Well, at present, the Three Lions are tearing up the Euros, thrashing Ukraine 4-0 in their recent quarter-final to set up a semi clash at Wembley against the Danes.

They’ve also become only the second international team to keep a clean sheet in each of their first five games at a major tournament, and if they do win the Euros, their current World Cup odds of 9/1 are likely to fall significantly.

So, now could be the ideal time to back England and achieve genuine value for your hard-earned cash, as this could represent the team’s best chance to win the World Cup for several decades.