World Cup 2022: Top five matches for profitable betting

The FIFA World Cup 2022 will commence with the match between the host country Qatar playing against the South American team Ecuador. The game will be played as a stand-alone event on 20th November and will be held at the Al Bayt Stadium.

Both teams are lowly ranked to win the World Cup but make an exciting betting opportunity for punters looking for betting bonuses and a great way to kickstart your world cup betting, and the tournament opener is the first of five matches we have picked out for a flutter. 

Qatar vs Ecuador

The host country, Qatar, will try to make the very best of their initial performance at the tournament and whilst they may lack the necessary experience to face challenging opposition, the local support and the determination to make the best of the occasion could be the added value to procure a positive result. The Qatari national team played its first international match in March 1970 against Bahrain and its first FIFA World Cup qualifying match in 1977.

Their initial shaky start in the international arena ended when Qatar managed to win the first major football trophy in 1992 by winning the Gulf Cup. Before reaching the final and triumphing, Qatar, with its young squad, had dominated the tournament. The winning of the Gulf Cup in 1992 catapulted the Qatari national team towards further achievements and the opportunity to play in the finals of this year’s edition of the World Cup.

Although Ecuador is not one of the best teams hailing from South America, it possesses much more international football experience than the World Cup host country Qatar. The Ecuadorian team is composed of players, some of which have ventured beyond the borders of the countries to play their football overseas.

Despite their historically humble performance, Ecuador has recently made serious progress towards improving their game and providing a stiff challenge to other regional and national teams such as Peru, Venezuela and Mexico.

Punters vying to bet on the tournament’s first match have to ponder and evaluate the determination and generous support of the Qatari team with the Ecuadorian national team’s experience and possibly hostile atmosphere. Picking the right bet can be most beneficial to the bettor.

USA vs Wales  

The United States of America and Wales will clash head-to-head on 21st November. Both teams are low ranked to win the World Cup, but in betting terms, it could provide an oasis of opportunity to punters. After qualifying for 7 straight World Cups, the United States missed out on the Russia 2018 tournament. But the importation of talented and skilful players from Europe and South America has given fresh impetus to the game’s development in the USA over the past few years.

Recent performances by the national team of the USA saw them drawing against two of the strongest teams in South America, Uruguay and Mexico, beating Morocco, Costa Rica, Panama and Honduras. One of their most talented players, Weston McKennie, has played his football in Germany and is currently one of the most important players of the Italian giants Juventus.

The Welsh team has far more experience than the USA national football team; however, on the day, anything can happen. Wales have qualified for the World Cup finals twice. In 1958, when the team reached the quarter-finals and lost to Brazil, and now again in 2022. The Welsh national team has participated in various UEFA European Championships and generally made a good impression. With players like Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale, the Welsh team could have the edge to beat the USA.

Mexico vs Poland

Mexico against Poland is another exciting game to bet on. Historically, Mexico has qualified for the World Cup seventeen times and consecutively for the finals since 1994. The Mexicans and Brazil are the only two countries that have qualified for the World Cup final over the tournament’s last seven editions. The best performances in the competition by Mexico were in 1970 and 1986 when they reached the quarter-finals. Incidentally, the World Cup editions of 1970 and 1986 were hosted by Mexico.

Poland can boast of having some of the most important footballers in Europe in the likes of the prolific striker Robert Lewandowski who plays for Barcelona, Wojciech Szczesny who is the Juventus goalkeeper and Piotr Zielinski who plays for Napoli. On paper, the Polish team seems better equipped to cruise past the Mexicans. Nonetheless, punters will be wise to deeply mull the physical and mental condition of both teams before placing their bets.

Portugal vs Ghana

At a glance, the match between Portugal and Ghana could be seen as an easy passage for the Portuguese, since the Portuguese side is composed of immensely talented players like the evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva, João Cancelo and Bruno Fernandes who all play their club football in England, Joao Felix of Atletico Madrid and Rafael Leão of AC Milan.

Ghana managed to book their spot in the World Cup by beating Nigeria in the qualification play-offs after topping a group including South Africa, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. The Ghanaian national team is also composed of players who prefer to venture beyond the borders of their country of origin and gain football experience in foreign countries.

Denis Odoi plays with Brugge in Belgium; Tariq Lamptey plays for Brighton in England; Gideon Mensah with Bordeaux in France and Thomas Partey with Arsenal in England. Enriched with these talents and experience, together with the traditional Ghanian physical mode of playing football, they can turn the tables in their favour against Portugal.

France vs Denmark

France and Denmark face each other on 26 November. In their last encounters, both teams managed to beat each other: 2-0 for the French in March and 2-1 for the Danes in June. A very balanced match is in prospect which both teams can win.

As the current world champions, the French should start as the favourites to win the game, banking on their international stars like Karim Benzema, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, N’Golo Kante and Hugo Loris. In addition to the pot of talent, the French have one of the most experienced managers in Didier Deschamps.

The Danes have qualified for the finals of the World Cup on a number of occasions. Denmark always tends to be underestimated, but they have on many occasions defied the odds and performed quite well in the competition.

They, too, have talented players in the likes of Jannik Vestergaard, Andreas Christensen, Kasper Schmeichel, Simon Kjaer, and Christian Eriksen. The Viking spirit could be a crucial element for the Danes to procure a positive result against a team that seems to have better odds.

Five football encounters can bring profitable returns to punters, provided they mull carefully over each game before placing their bets. Get your football betting strategy right, and let’s enjoy World Cup 2022 with the added thrill of some football betting thrown into the mix.