trouserdog78

There's nothing flashy or clever about this bet: Switzerland should be far too good for Qatar, who tanked in the last World Cup, despite hosting, and haven't played any opposition of Switzerland's calibre in the run up to this tournament. (The nearest is probably Ireland and Tunisia: they lost both games 0-1 and 0-3 respectively.) For some years now, the Swiss have operated at a level just below the top European sides, but they can cause any team problems on their day. This puts them at a much higher level than Qatar, and while this bet isn't going to win any prizes for value, it's a solid selection to boost an acca.

Seven of Brazil's last 8 games have gone BTTs-Yes. Even Panama managed to put 2 past them (albeit in a 2-6 defeat.) In the last twelve months, two other North African heavyweights, Egypt and Tunisia, neither as strong as Morocco, scored against them too. Morocco are very capable defensively, but recent games against South American teams, Paraguay and Ecuador ended with both teams scoring (2-1 win for Morocco in the forner, 1-1 draw in the latter.) Morocco's most recent game also eded 1-1 v Norway. Opening games can be cagey, but these are two sides capable of scoring.

Ecuador are notoriously difficult to break down and have a spate of recent low-scoring draws against similarly-ranked opposition to Ivory Coast. Two 1-1 draws in March against Netherlands and Morocco and three draws against USA, Mexico and Canada all sit tellingly on their record. They'll be happy enough to start their campaign with another stalemate given that they'll probably beat Curacao later in the group stage. Ivory Coast have posted some impressive results recently - notably a 2-1 win against France and a 4-0 romp v South Korea. They've gone under the radar a little, with most of the attention on Morocco when it comes to African contenders. Just like Ecuador though, a draw will suit them given the make up of the group.

Netherlands seem like a weak odds-on favourite in this group and are worth taking on. They had an easy qualification group, but drew twice (1??"1) against the only real competition in Poland, who are not in Japan's class. A recent friendly win over Norway (2??"1) was more impressive, but they followed this up with a 1??"1 draw vs. Ecuador (albeit with 10 men). Japan are the team who can pip them to top spot in this group and are growing into a credible international force. Two 1??"0 wins against Scotland and England showed what they're all about: a highly organised side who deny the opposition space. They also recorded a win over Brazil (3??"2) in October. This is a team that's been improving its performance on the world stage tournament by tournament, and in 2022 they topped a tougher group than this, shocking both Spain and Germany in the process. World Cup betting experience tells me that, usually, the odds-on favourites win their groups, but there is always at least one group where this doesn't happen. Look to Japan to upset the odds here.