Football is the biggest sport in the world today. Over 3 billion fans around the globe take one hour out of their busy schedule whenever their favorite clubs or their national teams compete in the various tournaments and events that occur around the world.
One of football’s most popular events is the FIFA World Cup. The World Cup occurs every four years. The three years in between the tournament proper see the teams competing to qualify for the cup. And, in the fourth year, the game is played.
With the 2024 iteration of the World Cup just around the corner, many new fans are looking forward to witnessing their first-ever event in the sport. In this article, we share a few important tidbits that you need to bear in mind before the time comes around.
Betting on the World Cup is Very Popular
The massive popularity of the World Cup, perhaps unsurprisingly, draws in a huge amount of bettors. In fact, when it comes to football, the World Cup might be one of the most popular betting events. Bookmakers spend a good chunk of their time analyzing national football teams in order to set the odds for the most important event in the game.
What we say about bookmakers is applied to both land-based sports shops, as well as online betting sites like sportsbet.io, where anyone can log on and place a bet. What makes these sites a lot more popular nowadays is their accessibility. After all, when you can access a sportsbook using any electronic device, the process becomes a lot easier. To top it off, many of these websites are newbie-friendly and offer several tips and bonuses that will help newcomers do a better job.
However, when talking about betting, there is another important thing that one should know. That, of course, are the odds and fan favorites to win the World Cup. So, let us look at the theories and beliefs that many sportsbooks have regarding what nation will win the 2024 World Cup.
Favorites to Win the Tournament
This year’s tournament will certainly be fascinating, as some of the top-tier teams have already qualified and are going to go head-to-head in the World Cup. Naturally, the favorite to win the title are the Brazilians.
Brazil
For those who are out of the loop, the Brazilian national team has the best track record in the history of the game. They have won the most amount of World Cups with five, and hold the number one spot on the FIFA national men’s football team rankings.
Apart from their success in the World Cup, Brazil has quite a few accomplishments in international football in general. They’ve won the defunct FIFA Confederations Cup four times, the South American Championship nine times, the Panamerican Championship twice, and have been runner-ups for the CONCACAF Gold Cup on two separate occasions.
England
Apart from Brazil, the English team are expected to finally break their dry spell and win the World Cup after a very long time. When it comes to the most popular bookmakers out there, England is the second likeliest to win the tournament.
Captained by Harry Kane, England’s national team is boasting better plays than ever. English fans are always a passionate bunch, and they are standing behind their team, hoping that 2024 will finally be their year.
Currently, England sits at the number five spot on the official FIFA national team rankings. However, if they manage to squeeze out a World Cup Title, their ranking will certainly go up. Should they manage to win the tournament, it would be the team’s second World Cup title, their first coming in 1966.
France
Last but not least, we are looking at France, which are ranked 4th in the official FIFA rankings. Often nicknamed the Blues or the Roosters, the French national team has already won the World Cup twice and has managed to finish in third or as runner-ups on quite a few occasions.
In addition to their World Cup achievements, they have also won the UEFA European Championship title twice, the Nation’s League, the Confederation Cup and the CONMEBOL – UEFA Cup of Champions once, and have ended as runners-up in quite a few of these tournaments as well.
A First for the World Cup
The 2024 FIFA World Cup is the 22nd iteration of this monumental event. As many of you reading this know, the tournament will be held in Qatar. What you might not realize is that this is a monumental occasion for the World Cup, as it is the first time that the event will be held in an Arabic country and only the second time that it will be held in Asia.
What’s more, for the first time, the World Cup will not be held in the late-spring / early-summer months (May, June, July). Rather, the tournament will start in late November and last through December. The reason for this is that Qatar’s National Day is on December 18, which coincides with the last match of the tournament.
What Countries Qualified?
The 32 teams that will compete were decided a long time ago, so we wouldn’t be surprised if you already were familiar with which countries are in. However, we still would like to go through the countries that managed to qualify.
From the AFC, six countries have qualified, including the host country Qatar, which qualifies automatically. Out of the CAF, Ghana is probably the most successful country that qualified for the World Cup. Apart from Ghana, four other African countries are going to compete in the World Cup.
The CONCACAF and CONMEBOL each had four countries qualify for the World Cup. These include Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and the USA from the CONCACAF, and Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Uruguay from CONMEBOL.
The UEFA saw the most countries, with 14 European countries qualifying for the World Cup, including England, France, Germany, Belgium, etc. No countries qualified from the OFC this year, much to the chagrin of many fans from the region.