World Cup Betting Odds & Ultimate Guide to Qatar 2022

Consider the Temperature

The summer temperatures in Qatar forced the World Cup to move to an autumn schedule. However, the weather will remain warm even with the alternate schedule, with average high temperatures expected to be around 28-29 Celsius during the day in November.

Of course, temperatures could be even higher on any given day, which could create difficult conditions for players. That could make fitness a key factor in some matches at the 2022 World Cup. In addition, you may want to track the conditions in matches that teams have already played. If a side has the misfortune of playing on a couple of unseasonably hot days in a row, they may suffer the effects later in the tournament.

Compare Odds at Different Sites

There is no easier way to improve your sports betting results than by comparing the odds on offer at several different bookmakers before placing a bet. There is no reason not to get the best odds possible on the wagers you wish to make, whether we’re you’re betting on who will win the World Cup, or on which player will score the first goal in a given match.

Each of the World Cup betting sites that we recommend sets odds independently of the others. That means that each one will likely have the best odds on certain markets, while offering an inferior price on others. While you can certainly bet on the World Cup by signing up for just one site, you will inevitably be a more profitable bettor if you’re getting the best possible payouts each time you make a winning bet.

Plot Your Team’s Path

It can be tempting to simply pick the side that you think is best and back them to win every match and lift the trophy. But there are factors other than skill or talent that determine who will win the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

One often overlooked factor is the path each team faces on its way to the final. Even a great squad can get tripped up by a difficult group stage. With only three matches to play, one upset loss might be the difference between going into the knockout stage as a favourite and being out of the tournament entirely.

Similarly, it’s worth re-evaluating the World Cup betting odds once the knockout stage starts. If two favourites meet in the Round of 16, it will lengthen both of their odds, while an underdog with a soft schedule could have a good chance of reaching the final.

Take Advantage of Lucrative Promotions

One of the best ways to make a profit at online sportsbooks is by aggressively targeting the promotional offers at each site. You will find a mix of welcome bonuses, odds boosts, free bets, and other offers and promotions, each of which can add value to your bets.

In particular, free bets can offer you a risk-free way to hedge your bets and make a profit. If you use a free bet on a large underdog, you can make a standard bet on the favourite at another bookmaker and lock in a profit. Meanwhile, odds boosts will often allow you to create obviously profitable accumulators and other bets throughout the tournament. If you see a promotion that applies to a bet you want to make, be sure to take it and get the best odds or payout possible!

Track Injuries and Cards

One of the most common mistakes made by novice punters is to assume every team is always playing at its best. Unfortunately, every squad goes through injuries over the course of a World Cup. When key players are either limited or out of a match due to injury, this can have a massive impact on the World Cup betting odds.

Sometimes, even injuries to lesser-known players can impact a game in ways you can take advantage of. Perhaps a team is missing two of its regular defenders, which will open up opportunities for opposing forwards who aren’t normally prodigious scorers.

Card accumulation can lead to similar opportunities. Even if a player is eligible for a match, a manager may rest them if they are near the yellow card limit. Predicting such decisions could help you find an edge if the bookmakers haven’t adjusted their odds to account for that possibility.

Take Advantage of In-Play Markets

If you’re a traditional punter, you may be used to making your bets before the match starts and then sitting back and watching the action. These days, the betting doesn’t stop after kick off, however. You can continue making in-play bets right up until the final whistle, and this provides you with many more opportunities to find profitable wagers.

Since each site is attempting to adjust their odds on the fly, it is sometimes the case that there are massive differences in pricing between bookmakers when it comes to in-play betting. If you see odds that look too good to be true, you can quickly lock in a profitable bet. Just be sure you’re up to date on the action: if you are watching a stream that is behind by more than a few seconds, you may be placing bets without actually knowing what’s happening in the match.

World Cup Winner

This market is just what it sounds like: a bet on the outright winner of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. At the start of the tournament, bookmakers will post odds on each of the 32 teams, from favourites like Brazil to longshots like Saudi Arabia.

As the World Cup progresses, these odds will change to reflect the tournament situation, and as teams are eliminated, they will be removed from the betting board entirely. You can choose to bet on the winner at any point you like, or even put in new bets on different teams if you change your mind (or just like the odds) about who will win the World Cup.

Winning Group

Is there a particular group that you think has a good chance of producing the World Cup winner? You might be interested in a Winning Group bet. Many World Cup betting sites offer this option, which allows you to take all of the teams from one group to lift the trophy in one bet.

For instance, you can bet on a team from Group E to win the World Cup. This would allow you to have a bet on both Spain and Germany at the same time, along with less likely contenders in Japan and Costa Rica. One great thing about the Winning Group bet is that you are guaranteed to have two teams still alive when you get to the knockout stage, meaning your wager will be in play for much of the tournament even if it ultimately doesn’t go well.

Winning Continent

Like the Winning Group bet, this wager wins if any team from the given continent wins the World Cup. That means you can choose to back all the European teams in one bet, or take the contingent from any other continent and hope a team makes a run.

Naturally, Europe and South America generally have the tightest odds in this market, as those two continents contain most of the strongest teams and are the only continents to produce World Cup winners thus far. On the other hand, Africa, North America, and Asia all have teams capable of making deep runs into the knockout stage, even if it would be a large upset if any team from one of these continents actually lifted the trophy in December.

Group Winner

While most of the action is on which nation will win the overall title, the World Cup starts with what are essentially eight miniature tournaments in the group stage. You can bet on who will win any of the eight groups.

You can find World Cup betting odds on every team to win their respective group in Qatar. This is often a popular market for those who want to back a longshot bid. While favourites typically win the World Cup, there are certainly upsets in the group stage, and every edition of the tournament seems to produce at least one or two surprise group winners from teams nobody expected to even reach the knockout stage.

To Reach Final

If you want to bet on a team to make a deep run, but aren’t entirely sure that they can win the World Cup, then you may be interested in this market. If you bet on a team to reach the final, they must only appear in the World Cup final for your bet to pay out. After that point, it doesn’t matter if they win or lose the final. Naturally, this bet tends to pay out at about half of the odds of a bet to win the World Cup, with odds shifting throughout the tournament.

This is a popular market for World Cup spread betting, so check out our guide to learn more about how you can profit from backing a team to reach the final.

Golden Boot

The Golden Boot is awarded following each World Cup to the player who scores the most goals throughout the tournament. Should multiple players tie as the top goalscorer, the player who scored fewer goals from penalties will get the award. Assists are the next tiebreaker, followed finally by least amount of time played.

Nearly every World Cup betting site offers odds on who will win the Golden Boot. Dozens of the world’s top players are listed with various odds, along with lesser-known players who could potentially lead their country in scoring and challenge for the Golden Boot title.

Check out our World Cup top goalscorer betting guide for tips on this year’s Golden Boot winner.

Golden Glove

The Golden Glove goes to the best goalkeeper of the World Cup. Unlike the Golden Boot, this prize isn’t awarded solely on objective criteria. Instead, the FIFA Technical Study Group chooses the top goalkeeper of the tournament based on total performance. Should FIFA’s process result in a tie, the goalkeeper who progressed further in the competition will win the award, with other tiebreakers also possible.

The Golden Glove is a relatively new award, with FIFA first giving it out at the 1994 World Cup in the United States. Still, many of the top World Cup betting sites do offer odds on this award, with the starting goalkeepers for most of the top contenders among the favourites to win the honour.

Golden Ball

The Golden Ball is perhaps the most prestigious award a player can win at the World Cup. FIFA awards this to the best overall player at each World Cup, drawing up a shortlist that is then voted on by media members to determine a winner. The second and third-place finishers win the Silver Ball and Bronze Ball, respectively.

Many sites offer World Cup betting odds on who will win the Golden Ball. While surprise winners can emerge, the award typically goes to one of the world’s acknowledged top players, and those stars will dominate the odds boards at bookmakers unless an unexpected contender begins making waves into the knockout stage.

Best Young Player Award

FIFA began awarding a Best Young Player Award at the 2006 World Cup. This award honours the best player who is at most 21 years old. The prize often signals the beginning of a prodigious career, with Kylian Mbappe most recently winning the award in 2018.

While not all sites with World Cup 2022 betting odds offer wagering on the Best Young Player Award, several of our top bookmakers do include this among their offerings. This can be an unpredictable award, especially early in the tournament, as lesser-known young stars can become famous through a memorable performance at the World Cup.

FIFA Fair Play Trophy

The FIFA Fair Play Trophy has little to do with how a team performs on the field. Instead, this award goes to the team that has the best fair play record, meaning they had the best disciplinary record in terms of red and yellow cards during the tournament. Teams must reach the knockout stage in order to be eligible to win the trophy.

Of the major World Cup awards, this is the one you are least likely to find betting on at the major sites. While some nations may have reputations for cleaner play than others, picking a winner for this award comes down largely to luck, since any team could pick up a few more or a few less cards in such a short event.