The biggest ever World Cup is shrinking fast, with memorable action from this weekend’s fixtures shifting the bookmakers' attentions away from Latin America – with all eyes fixed firmly on France.
Indeed, both Brazil and Mexico exited the World Cup in somewhat premature (albeit spectacular) fashion this weekend, with England and Norway advancing to the quarter-finals. The departure of two Latin American heavyweights has seen the rest of the tournament breathe a sigh of relief, although the bookmakers still fancy reigning champions Argentina at 5/1 as of the time of writing.
The only team more likely to lift the trophy at this moment are favourites, France, who are currently broadly being offered at 2/1 odds across the board – not exactly an outside shout. After their first truly convincing display since the opening match against Croatia, England’s dramatic victory over Mexico has seen them advance to 6/1 odds to win the World Cup, level with Spain, who beat them to European glory in the EURO final two years ago.
Despite their strong team, Portugal is being offered at slightly longer odds of 16/1, with Norway at 18/1. Colombia (25/1) and the USA (33/1) are both favoured over former semi-finalists Morocco (35/1) with the bookmakers having Egypt as the outsiders at 350/1.
Elsewhere, Kylian Mbappe remains favourite for the Golden Boot at 6/4, followed by Erling Haaland at 13/2 and Harry Kane at 10/1.
At present, a France vs Argentina match-up for the final is the bookmakers' most favoured outcome at 4/1, with England vs France at 17/4 and Spain vs Argentina at 9/1.
This World Cup has already seen memorable ‘betting’ action, with one single punter losing almost $1m on Polymarket following Cape Verde’s historic draw with Spain in the group stage
