Football World Cup 2022 Betting Tips: A Comprehensive Guide

Why Bet on the FIFA World Cup?

We’ll be honest with you here. Watching the World Cup in itself is world-class entertainment that very few things in life can top. However, to take it up another few notches, one way is to put your money on the line and stake more than just your fandom and loyalty.

With your hard-earned $$$ on the line, the thrill and the high of watching the World Cup becomes unlike anything else. The last-minute goals, the penalty shootouts, the referring decisions — all carry an extra little bit of oomph that simple fans would just not understand.

And that was just about thrill-seeking. The other aspect is that if you play wisely, pick up the right skills, and discipline, of course, you stand to earn money as well. It can be as little as a few rupees to as much as a million dollars, depending on your appetite and depth of pocket. Keep in mind that we always recommend playing responsibly.

If you do decide to try your hand at betting during World Cup 2022, then apart from the traditional money line, goal spreads, scorers, and other bets that normal football matches offer, the World Cup also brings something special. For instance, now that we know almost the entire group stage line-ups, you can bet on which teams would progress to the Round of 16. Or, you can predict who would finish as the tournament’s highest goal scorer, who’d keep the cleanest sheets, etc.

FIFA World Cup Format & Rules

Like a typical World Cup, the 2022 edition will also be composed of two phases: the group stage and then the knockout stage. It is similar to the format used in the UEFA Champions League. The group stage sees the 32 teams of the World Cup divided into groups of four. To divide up these teams and decide which team is paired with who, there exists an entire mechanism called the World Cup Draw. What was done here was that eight countries, including tournament hosts Qatar, were assigned the status of seeded teams and placed into eight different groups. The remaining 24 teams were then placed in different pots based on either geography or rankings, from which the groups were randomly populated. The demarcation of pots was made to avoid the possibility of too many teams from the same continent or too many strong teams being drawn together.

Once the World Cup begins and the group stage matches are wrapped, the top two teams from each group get to advance to the knockout round where the teams keep on getting eliminated till there are only two left, who contest the winner-takes-all world cup final. Whoever wins that game is crowned the world champion and etches its name in the folklore of world cup history.

Now let’s talk about the structure of the matches played. The group stage matches are ninety minutes long comprising two halves of 45 minutes plus injury time each. However, the match format changes, or rather extends, for the knockout round. Here, if the teams are tied at the expiry of the regulation 90 minutes, another 30 minutes comprising two halves of 15 minutes are granted. If the deadlock remains then it goes to penalty shootouts.

Qualification Process:

As explained above, FIFA World Cup takes place after every four years and only the worthiest countries get to participate in it. From the 200-plus nations of the world, how is it decided who’s worthy and who’s not? For that, there are rigorous qualification campaigns staged in FIFA’s continental zones. The host nation gets a direct entry into the World Cup but the rest of the 31 have to qualify.

Following the campaign for the World Cup 2022 qualifiers, Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea have qualified from the AFC region; Canada, Mexico, and United States have qualified from the CONCACAF region; Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia have qualified from the CAF region; Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and Uruguay have qualified from the CONMEBOL region; while Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, and Switzerland have qualified from the UEFA region.

Keep in mind that three teams are still undecided and their final qualifiers will be played in June.

Group Stage:

The draw for the 2022 World Cup has already taken place, and as a result, Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, and the Netherlands have been placed in Group A; England, Iran, and United States are in Group B. They will be joined by one of Wales, Scotland, and Ukraine; Group C has Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Poland; Group D has France, Denmark, and Tunisia, with a fourth team to join them; Group E has Spain, Germany, and Japan, and they too will be joined by a fourth yet undecided team when the qualifiers end; Group F has Belgium, Canada, Morocco, and Croatia; Group G has Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, and Cameroon, while Group H has Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, and South Korea.

The most obvious choice for the Group of Death would be Group E which features two defending champions in Spain and Germany to go with Japan, who are Asia’s best side. Group H also looks quite difficult as all four of its sides – Ghana, Portugal, South Korea, and Uruguay – are equally strong.

The World Cup 2022 Group stage will begin on November 21 and end on December 2.

Round of 16:

Once the group stage ends, the survivors face each other in the Round of 16, which also officially marks the start of the knockout round. The World Cup 2022 Round of 16 will begin on December 3 at Khalifa International Stadium and on December 6 at Lusail Iconic Stadium.

Of course, we won’t be able to tell you the Round of 16 line-ups just yet as we don’t know who would make it out of the group stage.

In our opinion, the countries likely to reach this stage are the Netherlands, Senegal, England, the US, Argentina, Poland, France, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Croatia, Brazil, Serbia, Uruguay, and Portugal.

Keep in mind that this marks the beginning of the knockout stage so teams with a depth of talent, bigger lungs, and penalty specialist goalies might be able to get more out of this round.

One random fact to keep in mind is that Mexico are the side that has fallen the most during the Round of 16 stages so you better steer clear of backing them here. Germany, on the other hand, are the bosses of the Round of 16, and if they make it this far, they are almost certainly guaranteed to go to the quarter-finals.

Quarter-Finals:

The FIFA football World Cup 2022 quarter-final stage will begin on December 9 at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan and end on December 10 at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor.

The final line-up of the quarterfinalists will of course be known only once the Round of 16 concludes on December 6.

It’s still way too early to say this but perhaps a mental note can already be made of this: England are awful in the quarter-finals and have been eliminated at this stage the most number of times (8). That said, their last elimination in the quarter-finals came in 2006. They did make the semis in 2018 so maybe the curse is broken. Just to be safe though, it’s best to try and avoid them in the quarter-finals.

Semi-Finals:

The 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-final will be played over two days: December 13 and 14 in Lusail Iconic Stadium and Al Bayt Stadium. And of course, we won’t know who’s in the semi-finals until the quarter-finals are over on December 10.

Germany have lost the most number of semi-finals (5) but then they have won quite a few as well so this is not a factual nugget we want you to put a lot of thought in. However, Argentina have never lost a World Cup semi-final so if La Albiceleste make it to the final four this year, then perhaps they should warrant some of your attention.

3rd Place:

The third-place fixture of the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be a single-game affair and played on December 17 at Khalifa International Stadium in Al Rayyan. It would be played between the two losing finalists. Again, we wouldn’t know who plays this game until the second semi-final is over on December 14.

Whoever wins this game gets a place on the podium finish, while the losing side gets consigned to the fourth spot. One word of advice here is that teams do not always give their all in this fixture because if you’re playing for the third place then you’ve already been eliminated from the race for the final. Energy levels can, even if theoretically, drop while squad players who may not have featured before can also get a run in.

Final:

The 2022 FIFA World Cup final will take place on December 18 at the purpose-built Lusail Iconic Stadium. Coincidentally, the final will be played on the national day of Qatar, so it would be an extra special event for the locals. We will know who gets to contest this match when the second semi-final is over on December 14.

While South American teams bring all the flair and flashiness to the party, do remember that it’s the European nations that have made the most number of appearances (28) in World Cup finals. Three of the last four World Cups have been all-European affairs.

The favourites to be the World Cup Winner this year would be all the typical names such as Brazil, Argentina, Germany, and France.

Golden Boot:

The Golden Boot is awarded to the player who scores the most number of goals in a World Cup. Of course, since forwards play up the pitch and are deployed nearest to the goal, they are most likely to win the Golden Boot award.

The Golden Boot winner of the last World Cup was Harry Kane, who scored six goals in that campaign. This year, several top marksmen will be vying for this individual accolade. Kane will, of course, be in the hunt again and so will Karim Benzema, who has been in top form at the club level for France and could be leading the line for France. Poland’s Robert Lewandowski always finds the net and so also do Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina’s Lionel Messi.

Of all the heavyweights, England’s group is the easiest in our opinion and they are totally geared towards Kane so we won’t be surprised if he goes and gets himself another one of those shiny Golden Boots.

Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup Schedule

The Football world cup will kick off on 21st November with the Netherlands vs Senegal at the Al Thumama Stadium, Doha, Qatar at 3:30 pm IST.

The 1^st day will feature 3 other matches: England vs Iran (6:30 pm IST), Qatar vs Ecuador (9:30 pm IST), and USA vs UEFA Path A Winner (TBD) (00:30 am IST next day).

See the rest of the schedule below:

21st November: Start of Round 1 of group stage fixtures.

25th November: Start of Round 2 of group stage fixtures.

29th November: Start of Round 3 of group stage fixtures.

3rd December: Last Round of 16 games #49 & #50.

4th December: Last Round of 16 games #51 & #52.

5th December: Last Round of 16 games #53 & #54.

6th December: Last Round of 16 games #55 & #56.

9th December: Quarter-final games #57 & #58.

10th December: Quarter-final games #59 & #60.

13th December: Semi-final game #61.

14th December: Semi-final games #62.

17th December: Third-place face-off.

18th December: Final match.

Betting Do’s and Don’ts

As lucrative and rewarding as it may seem, betting can be a highly risky activity and can deprive you of your hard-earned cash. Therefore, it is very important that you adhere to our guidelines before betting on the 2022 FIFA World Cup. We’re not guaranteeing that you would win every bet this way but it would help you pick more winners in general and avoid some risky bets. So here are our betting do’s and don’ts for the 2022 World Cup.

Betting Do’s:

Do Analyze the Form and Team News of the Competing Teams

This is the most important Do that you must follow religiously as without it you would just be taking blind shots. It is very important to know how teams did in their qualifying campaigns and what were they like in the pre-World Cup warm-ups or friendlies if any get played. Keeping an eye on team news and injury lists can also prove vital as at times a team can be missing a key player who was pivotal for the side until that point and so his unavailability can render the form and past performances useless as he won’t be available for selection in future matches.

Do Remember That Trend Is Your Friend

Teams tend to be streaky and, therefore, it is very important to know which one of them is in that zone where it could do no wrong and anything it touches turns into gold. To win big this World Cup, try and identify which team was in that zone during their qualifying campaign and blew its competition out of the water. Not all but some teams can carry their qualification form into the World Cup and so knowing their past performances could help us. Again, caution is advised because there can be a great difference in the level of competition during the qualifiers and the World Cup finals.

Do Check Out the Club Form of the Players

It can be a very effective barometer in gauging which players can be hot during the World Cup. For instance, Karim Benzema may not have scored too many goals for France during the past year but he lit up La Liga and so an eye must be kept on him during the World Cup as big players tend to raise their games on big occasions. Also, keep in mind that since the World Cup is the highlight of not just a year or a season but an entire career so great players are also known to give more than their 100 per cent here.

Do Find a Tipster That You Trust

Despite the best of your preparations, research, and knowledge, there is a good chance that you might not be able to pick winners or are on anyone’s, particularly bad run. That’s where tipsters come in. These tipsters are professional winner pickers and their entire job is to keep an eye on every little development, find edges and then make highly researched recommendations. Of course, no one is perfect and no one has seen the future, so tipsters can also have their bad days but at the end of the day, if you do as they say and maintain discipline, you will win more bets than you’d lose in the long run. Thus, if you want to free yourself up from all the research, tailing the picks of a professional tipster can be the way to go.

Do Keep an Eye on Brazil and Germany

Do remember that Brazil and Germany have collectively won nine of the 21 World Cups played so far. That gives them a whopping 43 per cent win percentage. Thus, know that while 32 teams compete for the title, only a handful of teams have a practical chance of winning it. Brazil and Germany, and to a lesser extent Argentina, tend to be among the favourites at the start of every World Cup. Italy would have also been a part of this group but unfortunately, they did not qualify for this year’s tournament. Thus, you would be advised to keep an eye on Brazil and Germany, especially for your outright bets.

Betting Don’ts:

Don’t Chase Losses

That’s another massive mistake that novice gamblers that do not have an understanding of this industry make. As easy as it may seem, gambling is not an activity where you can let your emotions take you over. A responsible gambler should never chase their losses and should always treat a losing bet as a singular event that ends as soon as the game ends. Keep in mind that conventional wisdom accumulated after studying decades of betting strategies recommends that you should never go chasing your losses. That’s the number one cardinal sin you can make in this industry.

Don’t Take the Difference in Systems/Roles Lightly

Do not expect too much from a player who plays a different or a less rewarding role for the country than he does for his club. For instance, a player might play as a center forward for the club and score a lot due to proximity to the goal but does not do it as often for the country due to being deployed on the wings. The system a player plays in matters a lot. For instance, Sadio Mane can be expected to score a ton of goals for Liverpool but the same cannot be expected when he plays for Senegal as there is a massive difference in the talent surrounding him in both club and country.

Do NOT Go All-in

The all-in strategy is the worst strategy in all of gambling and it exposes the entire funds of a gambler. What we’d advise you is to divide up your bankroll into small units and then allocate them to the matches you want to bet on. Perhaps, if you want, you can allocate more units to a particular play that you feel strongly about but to risk all your funds on a single play is akin to madness and we discourage such a practice strongly.

Do Not Habitually Bet on Your Favourite Team

Instead, bet on the better team, whichever that might be. This is a problem that many novice gamblers make. They end up betting a bit too much on the side they themselves are fans of. The result is that when their team wins, the jubilation is doubled as not only do you feel good, but your pocked also gets heavier. However, when your team loses, it also delivers a double whammy. For instance, no matter how big a fan someone is of the Tunisian team, expecting it to upset France in Group D is a stretch, unless, of course, your strategy is such that you only back big underdogs.

BetNinjas World Cup 2022 Betting Predictions

Our World Cup 2022 betting predictions would have been a bit different, had this tournament – like all others before it – were to be played in the summer. Why is that? Because Qatari summers are very hot and humid and so players and teams used to playing in similar conditions, perhaps from Africa, might have had an edge over those from cooler climates.

However, the 2022 World Cup will be played in November-December when the temperature is expected to drop to around 75 F (24 C), which would make conditions a lot more bearable for the players.

Can Anyone Beat France’s Golden Generation? Likely Not

Now that the climate business is out of the way, let’s take a deep dive into other matters of strategy. As explained above, France are the side that is loaded with talent. Odds-wise they are not the favourites for the title – Brazil have that honour – but they still have so many capable and proven players on their roster that it almost becomes difficult to imagine that someone could beat them.

Do Brazil Deserve the Betting Favourites Tag? Probably Not

Talking of Brazil, there has never been a World Cup where they have not been among the favourites. According to World Cup 2022 betting odds, they have the best chance of winning a trophy they last won 20 years ago. However, their lead superstar is Neymar, who tends to shrink and disappear on the biggest stage. To win the World Cup you need a lot of grit, determination, and spine, which we think this Brazilian side lacks and that could hurt them in the latter stages of the tournament.

England Have the Setup, Do They Also Have Luck? Likely Not

England have come a long way under Gareth Southgate and should be looking to improve on their fourth-placed finish from last World Cup. However, like with Brazil, they do not seem to have those gritty personalities that can keep you together in times of difficulty. They are also a bit too reliant on Harry Kane for goal-scoring. Their biggest problem remains their luck, which always deserts them with penalties. Thus, the deeper they go, the less confident we’d become of them.

Can Out-Of-Sorts Germany Be Ignored? Probably Not

Germany have had a ton of defensive issues over the past few years. Conventional wisdom tells us to never rule out the Germans in big tournaments but we would probably turn a blind eye to that advice. Truth is that the Germans are light on talent and their backline is a mess. They were poor in the last World Cup as well as Euro 2020 so that adage is probably on the fritz now.  

Can Spain Pass Teams to Death Despite Strike Woes? Probably Not

Spain are Spain and if their passing game clicks then they can pass any team to death. However, they have a problem up front where Alvaro Morata has never convinced anyone in years. Their midfield is arguably the strongest in the entire competition but a lack of goal-scoring options could hurt them.

Can Argentina Give Messi a Parting Gift? Probably Not

Argentina have Lionel Messi and his magic but he is 34 and in the twilight of his career. To be honest, we’re not too confident about him at this point. His club form has blown hot and cold and he is certainly not the swashbuckling star as he used to be back with Barcelona. Argentina’s talent factory has also had a bit of a slump. Where are the new Sergio Agueros and Carlos Tevezes, we ask? They do have Lautaro Martinez and Mauro Icardi types but we’re not convinced that they can win the World Cup, to be honest.

Can a Dark Horse Surprise Everyone? Likely Not

This brings us to second-tier teams such as Uruguay, Belgium, and Portugal. Of Belgium’s golden generation, only Kevin de Bruyne seems to be still operating at a high level. Eden Hazard is no more the Eden Hazard of old whereas Romelu Lukaku has had more than his share of troubles as well. Portugal has a decent set of midfielders around Cristiano Ronaldo but can they be genuinely expected to go all the way? We don’t think so.

In all, we here at BetNinjas root for France and tip them to make another deep run and possibly even retain the title. For the Golden Boot, Karim Benzema earns our nod.

How to Bet on the FIFA World Cup Online

Betting on FIFA World Cup 2022 from the comfort of your home and through your gadgets is as easy as ABC. All you have to do is find a trusted sports betting site, open an account with them, fund your account, claim any sign-up bonuses or promos on offer, and off you go betting on your favourites teams.

While that seems like a straightforward process, keep in mind that finding a fair and trustworthy sportsbook that had all the betting markets you want can be tricky business. If you get involved with a shady book, no matter how good a gambler you are, it will be all for nothing as you will find it difficult to see back your monies that you entrusted them with.

Therefore, always make sure that the sportsbook you choose has obtained a proper betting license and is regulated by gambling watchdogs. You are also advised to do your research on comparative odds and pick the book that does not fleece you by giving you really poor odds.

Most books offer great sign-up bonuses, promos, loyalty rewards, cashbacks, and whatnot. Choose the one that fits your betting criteria the best.

The most important factor of them all is to make sure that the sportsbook you choose to play with is quick to process withdrawal requests and does not make you wait for long. 

Best FIFA World Cup Betting Sites in India

If you are based in India and want to bet on FIFA World Cup then these are some of the best books you should consider playing with:

Parimatch: Parimatch is a Europe-based book that now specializes in catering to Indian customers as well. It is licensed in every territory it operates in and offers a 100 per cent bonus on the first deposit. For instance, if you are a new customer and you fund your account for the first time, whatever amount you deposit, you get just as much from Parimatch as well. It means that a deposit of INR 1,000 would reflect INR 2,000 in your account. The deposit bonus is limited till INR 15,000. Parimatch also has a wide range of FIFA World Cup betting markets, with more to be added as we draw near the tournament.

Make sure to go over the full bonus terms & conditions, which are available on the Parimatch site.

Paripesa: Another book that we recommend wholeheartedly is Paripesa. It also offers a 100 per cent bonus on the first deposit of up to INR 8,000. Furthermore, it hands out specialised birthday bonuses, Advancebet options, 100 per cent bet insurance for those who want to opt for it, and accumulator bonuses. It even has a bonus for a series of losing bets, which shows how much it cares for its customers. For betting on FIFA World Cup, Paripesa has also a great option and already offers several betting markets.

Make sure to go over the full bonus terms & conditions, which are available on the Paripesa site.

Other betting sites that you can consider:

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