Football World Cup | Bet on FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar

Before talking about betting on World Cup 2022 it’s impossible not to talk about ‘the rest’. Cause the run-up to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was filled with controversy. We are playing in winter, there are numerous abuses in the construction of the stadiums, the World Cup bid is said to have been ‘bought’, there is a protest every match, sponsors will not advertise and many coaches, players and pundits spoke out.

Something to look forward to, you would say. And that is what we are going to do here. We leave the peripheral issues for a moment and focus on football. And betting on the World Cup 2022 Qatar. Who are the contenders for the final victory? Which teams could surprise? Which bookmaker will go all out with promotions and how to find the best odds at Mobile Wins Sports?

Tournament format

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has a surprisingly short playing schedule, with only 28 days. The group stage takes up 12 days of this, which amounts to 4 matches per day! That’s right, instead of the usual 3 you now get 4 matches every day in the group stages. That’s a lot of extra opportunities to bet on the World Cup. During the knockout phase, the throttle is reduced slightly, with ‘only’ 2 matches in a day. The semi-finals and finals are each played on a separate day. 

There are 32 participants, divided into 8 groups. Doing the math, that’s four countries per pool. After three matches have been played in the groups, the numbers one and two advance to the eighth finals. The winner of the eighth final advances to the quarter-finals and so on.   

The tournament takes place from 21 November to 18 December, which means you can watch watch and bet on World Cup 2022 Qatar whilst sitting next to a Christmas tree. A definitive first (and last if we have any say in it). The games will be played on real grass, which is unusual given Qatar’s climate. In that sense, the (newly built) stadiums are real technological marvels.

Participants

There are 32 participants in total. Host country Qatar, and 31 other countries that have qualified. These are Germany, Denmark, Brazil, France, Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Serbia, Switzerland, England, the Netherlands, Argentina, Iran, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Poland, Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia, Mexico and the United States.

Participants come from all over the world, but the continent of Europe is best represented with 11 participants. Salient detail is that Poland was supposed to meet Russia in the play-offs for a ticket, but because of the war, Poland automatically advanced.

Bet on World Cup 2022 | Contenders

Among the contenders for the title, there is a fixed list of ‘usual suspects’. Germany, France, Spain, Brazil and Argentina. These five countries (Italy actually belongs here too, but is thus not participating) know what winning is and this gives them a mental edge over the rest. Strictly speaking, England also belongs here, but has meanwhile squandered that mental edge in the last 60 years with a multitude of traumas from lost (semi-)finals. 

Bet on World Cup 2022 | Outsiders

The list of outsiders also almost always consists of the same string of countries. The Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Croatia, Senegal and Uruguay. Countries that almost always survive the group stage and have played one or more finals in the past. And lost.

The Dutch have a subscription to this, in 1974, 1978 and 2010 they narrowly missed out. Add to this some lost semi-finals, and you get the idea that they are the best country that has never won. A dubious honour.

Betting markets

The great thing about a tournament is that you have an infinite amount of betting markets. Something for everyone. Betting on World Cup 2022 Qatar is therefore not just a matter of who wins the tournament. We discuss some interesting alternative bets where your knowledge of the game and players will be more rewarded.

Group Winner

Is choosing from 32 teams too much of a wild guess? Do you prefer to keep it manageable? Then you can bet on group winners. The advantage of betting on a group is that with only 4 teams, you can make a good estimate of the outcome. A disadvantage is that the odds do not yield such golden mountains as with an outright winner bet. Nevertheless there’s plenty of value to be found when betting on World Cup 2022 Qatar in the group stage.

Top scorer

Whose tournament will this be? Becoming top scorer at a World Cup is a good step towards a Ballon d’or, so players will if possible make sure they aim high at a tournament the whole world is watching.  In England, the bookies are convinced Harry Kane will run away with the title. However, we are not so sure. 

Kylian Mbappé is also doing well with the bookies, despite a poor performance at the European Championship. We would rather put our money on goal scorer Benzema. Don’t discount Ronaldo either. With Portugal, he always rises above himself. Lukaku is another contender. What stands out is that they are all oldies. Maybe we’ll see a new talent emerge? 

First Time Winner

Will we get a new winner? We hope so, of course. The bookmakers give the countries with a title in their pocket better odds, but you can bet on the tournament you hope for with this bet. One with a brand new winner. And then, of course, preferably a winner with orange outfits.

History

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be the twenty-second official World Cup since 1930. Before then, country teams also competed globally. This happened from 1900 at the Olympic Games in Paris, when the IOC recognised football as a sport. The size of the tournament did not have much going for it, as did the level, for that matter. In 1904, FIFA was founded, which tried to offer an alternative tournament as early as 1906.

Unfortunately, this initiative did not take off. In 1928, when football was no longer included as an Olympic Sport due to its low popularity in the United States, FIFA made another attempt at an international tournament between countries.

It was decided to hold the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. Uruguay was then one of the best footballing countries and celebrated the anniversary of independence that year. A logical choice, then.

No sooner said than done. Instead of qualification, X number of countries received invitations to participate. There was not immediately a lot of enthusiasm to undertake such an expensive trip with an entire team (it was 1930, after all, and flight routes to Uruguay were not as extensive as today).

Becoming the World’s Most Important Football Event

Only four teams came from Europe (including Belgium and France). Seven teams participated from South America and two from North America. Thirteen countries in all. The host country Uruguay won, becoming the first official world champion.  

Since then, a world championship has been organised every four years. Only during the Second World War was the global football festival skipped twice. Its allure has continued to grow, mainly because at this tournament the playing field is fairer than in club football. Where money mainly plays a role. Brazil and Italy are countries that have a subscription to final victory, with five and four titles respectively.