The FIFA Women’s World Cup is being jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand and gets going on the 20th of July. We take a look at the betting markets on offer.
STRUCTURE
This will be the biggest Women’s World Cup yet with 32 teams taking part meaning we have 8 groups of 4 and the Top 2 in each group go through to the Round of 16. There are 8 teams making their first ever World Cup start including Morocco and Zambia from Africa and perhaps more surprising Portugal and the Republic of Ireland also making their debuts.
Let’s start with a look at the likely contenders and their current odds:-
USA 12/5
The USA are the two time defending Champions and they beat Holland 2-0 in the final of the 2019 World Cup in France.
The USA continues to be the bench mark in women’s football, but there has been quite a big turnover on the team with a number of new faces and they are certainly not unbeatable.
ENGLAND 15/4
England were excellent in winning the 2022 Euro’s coming through their group with a 100% record before beating Spain 2-1 in the quarters and Sweden 4-0 in the semi’s. They were given a hard run by Germany, but prevailed in extra time at Wembley Stadium.
The problem for England now is that their squad has been hard hit by injuries. There are some good young players coming through, but I think England may be over-estimated by the bookies.
SPAIN 5/1
Spain made it to the Round of 16 in the 2019 World Cup, but were beaten 2-1 by favourites, the United States. In Euro 2022 they finished 2nd in the group behind Germany, but went out in extra time to England in the quarter-finals. Spain have a quality side, but I am a bit surprised to see them ahead of Germany in the betting.
GERMANY 7/1
The Germans were beaten 2-1 in extra time by England in the Women’s Euro 2022 Final. They had won all 3 group games and beat Austria and France in the quarter-finals and semis before finding England one too good in the final.
While many teams have lost a lot of players, Germany should be stronger than they were in the Euro Championships with a number of injured players back in the side.
FRANCE 10/1
France hosted the 2019 World Cup and they won 3 out of 3 in the group stages. They then beat Brazil in extra time in the Round of 16, but found the United States too good in the quarter-finals. France also topped their group in Euro 2022, finishing ahead of Belgium and they needed extra time to beat the Netherlands in the quarter-finals before finding Germany too good going down 2-1 in the semis.
AUSTRALIA 11/1
Australia as hosts will be keen to go well and they look to have every chance of going deep in their own Tournament. The team is built around the charismatic, Sam Kerr who bangs goals in with regularity and they are the 5/10 favourites to win their group which also includes Canada.
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VERDICT
With question marks around a number of the top teams the betting value for me lies with Germany at 7/1. The Germans have a settled squad and have in my opinion improved since the extra time defeat to England in the Euro’s
Suggested Bet: Germany win at 7 /1
There are also a number of other markets available including Group Betting and the Top Goal Scorer. As mentioned above, Australia built their team around Samantha Kerr and at 12/1 I think she represents a juicy price to win the Golden Boot.
Suggested Bet: Top Goal Scorer, Samantha Kerr at 12/1
TOP AFRICAN TEAM
World Sports Betting have also priced up the top African Team where we have Nigeria and Zambia at 22/10, South Africa and Morocco at 3/1. The odds are stacked against all 4 African sides with Nigeria, South Africa and Morocco all rank outsiders in their group. Zambia are 3rd favourite in their group which includes Costa Rica, Spain and Japan and given the presence of Costa Rica in the group I think they are the play here at 22/10
Suggested Bet: Top Africa Team, Zambia at 22/10
SOUTH AFRICA BETTING ODDS
South Africa are 500/1 to win the World Cup and in 2019 they failed to get a point losing all 3 matches, all be it only Germany really put them away by a 4 goal margin. Their warm up games have been mixed losing 5-0 to Botswana, but beating Costa Rica 2-0. They are 66/1 outsiders to win their group and you can get 11/1 on them qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
