World Cup 2018 odds: Brazil trails Germany on early tournament betting lines
Brazil and Spain are among the teams looking to bounce back strong from the 2014 World Cup, while Germany leads the early odds for the event at the sportsbooks.
Brazil's dreams of winning the World Cup as the host country were dashed in 2014 by a disastrous 7-1 blowout loss in the semi-finals to Germany. The team will try to bounce back and win the World Cup in 2018.
Brazil is going off at +500 on the odds to win the World Cup in Russia at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Entering the 2018 World Cup, Brazil currently has the most World Cup victories with five, narrowly edging out Germany and Italy with four apiece. No team is a bigger favorite to win its group than Brazil at -500 to win Group E over Switzerland (+550), Serbia (+750) and Costa Rica (+1400).
While Brazil's showing in the 2014 World Cup was a disappointment given the team and country's expectations, it didn't come close to rivaling the letdown that Spain endured.
Coming off wins in the 2010 World Cup and the 2008 and 2012 UEFA European Championships, Spain was one of the clear favorites to win the World Cup in 2014. Instead, the team failed to make it out of the group stage as a massive favorites. Spain is going off at +750 to win the World Cup this year and -200 to win Group B over Portugal (+2800 to win the World Cup, +175 to win the group), Morocco (+1400 to win the group) and Iran (+2000).
Lionel Messi will go down as one of the sport's all-time greatest players, but the one major knock on his career resume is his lack of international success with Argentina. Argentina lost to Germany in the final in 2014 and would pay +800 to win the World Cup in 2018. Group D is no lock for Argentina as -200 favorites as the team will have to hold off Croatia (+200), Nigeria (+900), and Iceland (+1000).
The road to a World Cup victory for these top teams will likely go through Germany. The No. 1 team in the FIFA World Rankings is a +450 favorite to win the World Cup again. Germany is a -335 favorite to win Group F over Mexico (+450), Sweden (+550) and South Korea (+1200).
Other potential World Cup contenders include France (+600), Belgium (+1100), England (+1600), and Uruguay (+2800). France is a healthy favorite at -335 to win Group C facing Denmark (+450), Peru (+850) and Australia (+1400) while Belgium (-135) and England (+120) will battle for supremacy in Group G over Panama (+1000) and Tunisia (+2000)
2018 World Cup Odds
Germany +450
Brazil +500
France +600
Spain +750
Argentina +800
Belgium +1100
England +1600
Portugal +2800
Uruguay +2800