World Cup 2022: Outright betting preview

World Cup 2022 is the 22nd edition of football’s biggest international tournament and will see 32 nations battle it out to lift the trophy on December 18.

Qatar host the tournament and will also be making their debut on the world stage, having been named as the host nation for World Cup 2022 in 2010.

The other 31 competing nations have all previously played at the World Cup and it is France who are the defending champions after beating Croatia 4-2 in the final of World Cup 2018.

As of writing, France are the second favourites to win World Cup 2022 at 7.010*, with five-time winners Brazil the favourites at 4.980*. Argentina, who won the Copa America last year, are at 7.510*, with England at 8.420*, Spain at 9.010* and Germany at 10.980*.

World Cup 2022 will see the 31 nations who qualified, plus Qatar who qualified automatically as hosts, looking to win the tournament.

Qualification was made up of separate competitions in Asia (AFC), Oceania (OFC), Africa (CAF), Europe (UEFA), South America (CONMEBOL) and North America (CONCACAF). New Zealand’s penalty shootout defeat to Costa Rica means none of the teams who competed in OFC qualifying will feature at the World Cup, although Australia are one of five teams who came through AFC qualifying.

There are five African nations set to take part in World Cup 2022, while there are four each from both CONMEBOL and CONCACAF qualifying. UEFA has the most nations to have qualified, with 13 European nations heading to Qatar.

The 32 nations have been drawn in eight groups of four, known as Groups A-H and each nation in the group will play the other nations once.

The group stage takes place between November 21 and December 3.

The top two nations in each group will qualify for the round of 16 when the tournament becomes a straight knockout format, meaning one-off games where the winner will continue in the tournament, but the loser will be heading home. The round of 16 takes place between December 4 and 7.

Those remaining will play through the quarter-finals (December 10-11), semi-finals (December 14-15) and then the final (December 19). There will also be a third-place playoff match featuring the two nations who lost out in the semi-finals. This match will take place on December 17, the day before the final.

In total, there will be 64 games played at World Cup 2022, across eight stadiums.

Brazil are the favourites to win World Cup 2022, having finished top of the table in the incredibly tough South American CONMEBOL qualifying group, with the 2002 winners priced at 4.980* to collect their sixth World Cup.

Reigning champions France are second in the betting at 7.010*. However, Didier Deschamps’ side will have to do something their nation has not done before, by reaching a World Cup final at a tournament not being played in Europe.

Two-time winners Argentina, whose captain Lionel Messi is likely to be playing in his final World Cup, are at 7.510* to back up their Copa America success and win the tournament.

The 1966 champions, and semi-finalists in 2018, England are at 8.420*. Meanwhile, Spain and Germany, the champions in 2010 and 2014, are at 9.010* and 10.980* respectively.

At the other end of the betting, hosts Qatar are at 255.580* but it is Costa Rica and Saudi Arabia who bring up the rear in the market, with each currently available to back at 1004.700*.