How to Bet on the Football World Cup

With the World Cup beginning this weekend, a festival of football is set to unfold and with four weeks of international action on the horizon, it also offers punters plenty of opportunities to get the better of the bookmakers.

While although it offers plenty of opportunities, the question of how to bet on football world cup still remains. Thankfully, it is a question that we can easily answer, and we will do so in our latest blog offering.

The World Cup Is Just Around The Corner

For those who are wondering how to bet on fifa world cup before the tournament begins, our handy guide will clear up any confusion. Not only that but it will hopefully lead you on a path to profitability.

Like in any other football league or tournament, research is the key principle of all. Without any form of research, you may as well hand your money straight over to the bookmakers. Yes, you may get lucky from time to time but it is also something that will lead to the emptying of your accounts.

CARRY OUT YOUR RESEARCH

While the research can be carried out on many different fronts and although some punters will pore over reams and reams of statistical data beforehand, your preparations may be as simple as finding the right market to bet on.

Ultimately punters want the best odds that are available and just as how you would not buy the first car that you see, you would not go straight to the first bookmaker that you come across. Like in many other aspects of life, it pays to shop around.

Are the bookmakers offering you a bonus? Are you a new or existing customer? These are just a couple of questions that also need to be taken into consideration. If you are new to the betting game, then plenty of signup offers will be soon coming your way.

These offers are ones that you should certainly take advantage of during the fifa world cup. Especially if they are offers that involve free bets, anything that does involve spending your own money will be considered an added bonus.

Of course, those who are new to the world cup betting game may be unaware of how to find the best odds. Fear not though, as there are plenty of tools available that aggregate the best prices and point you in the right direction.

The better odds you can find, the quicker you can hopefully build your bankroll across the duration of the tournament. While if you can place value bets and find an edge over the bookmakers, this will also help you in the long run

One thing to consider is that international football is a different beast to that of the Premier League and although 32 of the world’s best teams will have made it to Qatar, the difference between Argentina and Australia is rather considerable.

LOOK AT THE ODDS

While the same can also be said for Argentina and Saudi Arabia and this is reflected in the pre-match odds before their Group C clash:

Argentina 1.16
Draw 7.00
Saudi Arabia 15.00

As you can see the odds are hugely skewed towards an Argentina win, to the point were backing the likes of Lionel Messi to victory offers nothing in the way of value whatsoever. With that said, there is always value lurking somewhere.

In this instance, the value can be found by backing Argentina to win to nil at odds of 1.61. Even this may be on the skinny side, but when it comes to this particular tournament you have to take the opportunities where you can.

Former Barcelona Forward Lionel Messi, Is Ready To Take On Saudi Arabia

For those who are unaware of the win-to-nil market, it is the same as a team winning and also conceding no goals (keeping a clean sheet). These bets are recommended if a global powerhouse goes up against an opposition that is rather toothless in attack.

As a rule of thumb, when it comes to the group stages you should largely avoid matches where the top seed is going up against the bottom – as in the example above. Unless you are absolutely sure there is a shock around the corner, you are best waiting for another time to strike.

Unless you want to look at the goals markets instead. In the same top versus bottom seed fixtures in the group stages, backing over 3.5 in total (four or more) is usually a good starting point and when Argentina faces Saudi Arabia, you can get odds of 2.62 for this to happen.

While although backing the giants early on and on their own will not make the bookmakers sweat, lumping your predictions together in an accumulator is certainly something that can begin to make them nervous.

Just as in competitions such as La Liga or the Bundesliga, smaller accumulators are always better than bigger ones. The more work you are asking teams to do, the more chances that things can go wrong.

THE PERFECT BALANCE

This means the sweet spot when it comes to placing a Qatar-based accumulator is usually four or five selections. A quintet that does not have to be solely from the win-draw-win market. If anything, it makes more sense to mix up your markets.

For example, you could place an early accumulator such as this:

England to win either half against Iran – 1.25
Argentina to win to nil – 1.57
Croatia to beat Morocco – 2.00
United States vs Wales – Under 2.5 goals – 1.50
Total Odds – 5.89/1

Here you have a perfect balance across all the major markets and none of the four picks are more than Evens. A quartet that should level out risk and reward and offers inviting odds of nearly 5/1 before a ball has even been kicked.

Your Accumulator Needs The Perfect Balance

While if you were to back only the favourites in the four matches above in a standard accumulator it would look like this:

England to beat Iran – 1.33
Argentina to beat Saudi Arabia – 1.16
Croatia to beat Morocco – 2.00
United States to beat Wales – 2.50
Total Odds – 6.99/1

Admittedly the odds may be greater, but the United States beating Wales looks like a much tougher proposition. One that could easily scupper your chances of all four selections doing the business for you early on.

Now you know the best bets to place during this year’s world cup, the rest is up to you. So before you sit back and watch countless matches on the television, remember this:

• Do your research
• Shop around for the best odds
• Dig deeper than the win/draw/win market
• Find value bets if you can
• Mix up your accumulators and make sure there are no more than five selections on your slip.