World Cup Betting Groups E to H

In the opening part of this article we looked at the World Cup betting opportunities offered by leading online sports betting company bwin.com and discussed which teams might win the groups and the various bets you can place. We will now consider the betting opportunities for World Cup groups E to H. These groups feature tournament favourites Brazil and Spain.

Group E

Holland 1/2, Denmark, 43/10, Cameroon 43/10, Japan 14/1

Holland are the obvious favourites for this group and I think a run towards World Cup glory is long overdue for them. Japan finished second in their World Cup qualification group and have averaged three goals per match recently, but against stronger opposition I expect qualification to be difficult for them. Cameroon legend Roger Milla criticised forward Samuel Eto’o and caused Eto’o to threaten to walk out before the World Cup begins. 12/5 for Holland to earn seven points is a good bet I think, as is Cameroon to qualify as they have a good record in the World Cup. My estimate for the final standings is Holland/Cameroon/Denmark/Japan at 77/20. Eto’o quitting the squad would see my decision change to give Denmark the edge to take second place.

Group F

Italy 19/50, Paraguay 31/10, Slovakia 13/2 New Zealand 80/1

New Zealand have done very well to qualify and with Italy as the clear favourites for first place this group is about second and third place in my view. Paraguay finished ahead of Argentina in qualifying and that lends me to think they will finish in second place. This group seems to have a wide skill gap between each team, so I expect no surprises. My favoured bet for this group is the final standings as Italy/Paraguay/Slovakia/New Zealand which is odds on, reflecting my view on skill, at 17/20. I think the over 4.5 goals in the group stage for Paraguay at 19/20, taking into account their matches they should win against Slovakia and New Zealand are also good odds.

Group G

Brazil 11/20, Portugal 13/4, Ivory Coast 7/2, Korea DPR 100/1

This is a really strong group with Brazil, Ivory Coast and Portugal in it. Didier Drogba leads the way for the Ivory Coast team but the obvious expected qualifiers from this group are Brazil and Portugal. I believe Portugal will win the group thanks to drawing with Brazil and then allowing the unbelievable skills of Cristiano Ronaldo to pick apart the weaker sides. My final standings bet will be Portugal/Brazil/Ivory Coast/Korea DPR at 19/5 and I also like the total goals scored in this group to be over 17.5 at 51/50. The match between Brazil and Portugal is one not to be missed particularly at this point in the competition.

Group H

Spain 11/50, Chile 23/5, Switzerland 10/1, Honduras 40/1

Spain are my pick to make the World Cup final and as Chile finished second to Brazil in the qualifying group for South America these teams are the obvious choices to qualify. Switzerland face Spain first and although they qualified top of their group it was a weak group. Honduras are a new team to the World Cup but have a victory over Chile and had a good defensive record. I am going to stick my neck out and say they will finish third. My bet in final standings for this group will be Spain/Chile/Honduras/Switzerland at 21/4.

Good luck with all of your World Cup betting on the groups and look out for more articles on World Cup betting coming very soon.

By Malcolm Clarke