Team and Group Winner Odds

World Cup Group A Qualification

Uruguay

Uruguay performed admirably during the tough South American qualifying process to finish second. Once the eighteen game group was finished, they sat three points and nine goals better off than Argentina (2014 World Cup Runners-up). The only lost one home game and that was to Brazil, by a single goal margin. Their away record, unsurprisingly for this region was less impressive with such strong fierce atmospheres and severe altitude key factors. La Celeste boast plenty of international experience. With Suarez and Cavani still at the peaks of their powers, they have the ability to play a part in the latter stages of the tournament this Summer.

Group Stats = W9, D4, L5, 32F, 20A

Russia

Russia qualified automatically as hosts of the event. This comes with obvious benefits, home ground knowledge, climate experience and massive support from the fans. What can’t be beneficial is the lack of top level, competitive, qualification games that you miss out on. We can look back to their performance during the Euro 2016 qualification and the results at the tournament proper. They were hardly inspiring in qualifying for that event, finishing eight points behind Austria. They then finished bottom of their group that Summer with one point, the group included England, Wales and Slovakia. 2017 saw the team compete in the Confederations Cup, they were hosts there but eliminated at the group stage in third behind Portugal, Mexico and ahead of New Zealand. It’s hard for us to be that enthused over the host’s chances.

* hosts

Egypt

Egypt comfortably topped their qualification group, four points clear of Uganda, six from Ghana and a long distance from Congo. The African form is probably the hardest to summarize but in the case of Egypt, we have a few players currently playing in Europe to assess. Hegazi (West Brom), Sobhi (Stoke) and Elneny (Arsenal) aren’t exactly the top players at their respective clubs. They are though, an experienced, diverse trio of talent. A centre-back, holding midfielder and a winger – that gives them a solid spread of talent through over the pitch. Then comes Salah (Liverpool), a player who over the last few seasons in Serie A and Premier League has established himself as one of the World’s top attacking players. Egypt should not be written off in this group.

Group Stats = W4, D1, L1, 8F, 4A

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia were a point away from finishing top of their group which included Japan (winners), Australia, UAE, Iraq and Thailand. Their home form was extremely important in obtaining that impressive points tally of nineteen from ten games. That doesn’t bear too well for the Summer given the environment will be drastically different in Russia. A few players have managed to make it to Spain and play in La Liga which gives them more experience than most of the squad, the rest ply their trade in Saudi Arabia. The odds are well against Al-Suqour (The Falcons) going any further than the group stage come June.

Group Stats = W6, D1, L3, 17F, 10A

World Cup Acca Theory

Group A along with Group C are likely to be where most of our betting will take place. If we get these two groups called correctly, we should be off to a flyer this summer.

Our angle here is to take on the overrated Russian team. As hosts, their chances of doing well are improved. However just how well, may have been overestimated by the bookies. We are talking about a team who in the Euro 2016 group stage, finished last of 4 in with 1pt. That sole point was picked up with a 93rd minute equalizer after being dominated for the most part in the game. They scored 2 goals in 3 games and conceded 6. Russia have been on the decline for the last 5 or 6 years and are currently sat at their worst ranking ever.

World Cup Group A Betting Tips

To take Russia on, we have Egypt who are a similar team to Algeria (who finished above them in the 2014 World Cup group stages) and Saudi Arabia. We are in the firm belief that these two teams are underestimated simply due to the general lack of exposure to Egyptian or Saudi football/footballers. Mo Salah aside, Egypt don’t have major household names and Saudi Arabian football is not on the radar of very many people. However, they have both earned their right to be at the tournament and must be respected. Now comes translating knowledge into profit, to make the best value bets that reflect our beliefs.

World Cup Group A Fixtures / Results

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World Cup Group A Table