World Cup 2018 Betting Free Bets, Odds & Predictions
As World Cup 2018 betting gets into full swing, it's important to have your free bets and betting odds in order. Here at sportingways.com, we can provide you with the best bookmaker free bets for the World Cup before and during the tournament. We provide football betting tips and exclusive bookmaker promotions to help you win a bit more.
World Cup 2018 Free Bets
When it comes to World Cup 2018 free bets, it's best to choose the ones from the best bookmakers, and we partner only with such bookies.
There's literally £ 1,000 in free bets to claim from bookmakers in the UK, and if you are in the Rest of the world, located from sportsbooks offshore.
World Cup 2018 Winner Predictions
With the World Cup 2018 in Russia just less than 10 days away, bookmakers are on overdrive as far as World Cup 2018 predictions for the sport's premier tournament go.
The most keenly followed predictor is the Soccerbot model developed by applied mathematician David Sumpter.
Watch David Sumpter explain how maths explains football
The Sumpter model takes into account team and player performance data, along with other key metrics, to predict future matches.
According to the model, Germany and Brazil (4/1) lead the odds to lift the World Cup, with the former the stronger contender at 7/2.
Last World Cup runner-up Argentina ranks 5th on the odds list at 13/2. France and Spain take the 3rd & 4th slot with identical odds of 6/1.
Brazil
Apart from the 1970 post-Pele phase, Brazil has won the coveted trophy in 1994 and 2002. After the 2002 Japan World Cup, the 5-time Champions have very little to show, having been knocked out in the quarter-final stages in 2006 and 2010 and suffering humiliating home defeats to Germany (1-7) in the semi-finals and 0-3 to the Netherlands in the 3rd place play-offs in the 2014 version.
The presence of the pricey Neymar and names that have been doing well in European soccer, like Liverpool's Firmino, Manchester City's Gabriel Jesus, Barcelona's Coutinho, and Real Madrid's Marcelo, seems to be giving predictors a lot of confidence.
Add to that Brazil’s emphatic entry into the World Cup from the South American zone qualifications.
Argentina
Argentina, by comparison, had to struggle to qualify from the same zone, and it was only Lionel Messi's brilliant hat-trick in a vital 0-3 win against Ecuador away in cold Quito that saved the Albiceleste from a humiliating World Cup exclusion.
Apart from Brazil 2014, when they finished runners-up, the South Americans had to exit in the knockout rounds in all five previous tournaments.
This follows the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, when they won one and reached the final in the other, in the era of Diego Maradona.
The 0-4 drubbing at the hands of a youthful German side in the Round of 8 at the 2010 South Africa World Cup was particularly hurtful, as the Argentines had players like Messi, Carlos Tevez, and Gonzalo Higuain in full form.
Yet, the two-time champions will be among the favorites in Russia thanks to the presence of Messi & co. But the South Americans could really sweat in a Group that also includes highly underrated sides like Croatia, Iceland, and Nigeria.
Germany
Four-time champions and current title-holders Germany have been the team of this millennium, having reached the finals in 2002, finished 3rd in 2006 and 2010, and won the Title in 2014 (the only team to achieve that honor on Latin American soil).
So the momentum is with the Germans. Most of the side's members are youngsters like Timo Werner, Julian Draxler, Leroy Sane, and Julian Brandt, who will lend tremendous speed, opportunism, and verve to the forward ranks.
The likes of Mesut Ozil, Marco Reus, Thomas Muller, and Toni Kroos will add a valuable blend of experience to the side, and mind you, none of them have reached their 30's.
It was as recently as 2017 that a brand-new German side, without its regulars, beat South American champions Chile to lift the Confederations Cup in Russia. No wonder the Germans are the hottest favorites.
France
The only two times France reached the World Cup final were in 1998 and 2006 (Champions in 1998), when Zinedine Zidane featured.
The best the French did, apart from that, was in 1986, when they came 3rd, thanks to another great, Michel Platini.
But it's the collection of superbly gifted players this time, viz., the 19-year-old prodigy Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, N'Golo Kante, Blaise Matuidi, Paul Pogba, Raphael Varane, and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, that gives the French their best chance after 1998 to lift the Cup.
Spain
Spain was never one of the big boys of the World Cup until 2010, when incredible players like Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, David Silva, Xavi Hernandez, Xabi Alonso, David Villa, Sergio Ramos, and Gerard Pique catapulted the Iberians to international glory.
Although 2014 was a disaster (having been ousted in the Group stages), folks like Fabregas, Silva, Ramos, Piqué, and the little magician Iniesta will still be around to play their final World Cup. But they will have to compete with fresh young blood in the form of Isco, Marco Asensio, Koke, Thiago Alcantara, and a few others for a place in the starting XI.
This surfeit of youth and experienced talent is what makes Spain such a dangerous contender for the title. This will be the strongest Spanish assemblage ever to feature in a World Cup held on European soil.
Belgium
Belgium, at 6th spot with World Cup 2018 betting odds of 10/1, will be the dark horse of the tournament. With some of the best talent in contemporary football, viz, Eden Hazard, RomeluLukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, Dries Mertens, MichyBatshuayi, Christian Benteke, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Thomas Vermaelen, and goalkeepers Thibaut Courtois and Simon Mignolet crowding their ranks, the Belgians indeed look a team to be really scared of.
They qualified for the WC 2018 in emphatic style, topping their Group (winning 9 of their 10 games), and their astonishing tally of 43 goals from those fixtures was only equalled by Germany. These guys are worth a bet.
England
England, at 7th with World Cup 2018 betting odds of 20/1, have their brightest chance of winning the Cup after 1966.
Never have a English side been brimming with such youth and talent – Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Jamie Vardy, Danny Welbeck, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kyle Walker, John Stones, etc.
Whether they will win the World Cup is another matter, but they can be expected to perform far better than their odds suggest.
Portugal
Portugal, also at 20-1 in the World Cup 2018 betting, will once again depend on their talisman, the incomparable Cristiano Ronaldo, to take them further as the tournament unfolds.
To the surprise of many, the Portuguese won the European Cup, beating home favourites France, and Ronaldo took no part in it. Portugal definitely has better players this time than in previous World Cups, but expecting them to win would be folly. But then, stranger things have happened.
Croatia
Sides like Croatia at 40-1 in the World Cup 2018 betting may not be contenders, but led by players of the caliber of Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, Mario Mandzukic, and Ivan Perisic, this Balkan team has the potential to trouble even the best in the business. One can put their money on the Croatians to do a lot better than expected.
Iceland
The tiniest nation to take part in a World Cup, Iceland, at 200-1 in the 2018 World Cup betting, could be a surprise package. This tiny island nation has catapulted from an abysmal 130th to 20th in the FIFA rankings in just a couple of years.
Few expected them to top their group in the World Cup qualifiers, given a cluster that included Croatia and Turkey. Winning the World Cup would be a shocker, but expect the Icelanders to give their opponents a hard time.
