Chris Boline
Switzerland have the experience and talent to edge out Group G rivals Serbia and qualify for the World Cup knockout stages.
Who do Bettors Favor?
Looking at the Group F betting with the best-rated online sportsbooks it is no surprise that Brazil are highly rated by bookmakers. The five-time World Cup winners are the overwhelming favorite among bettors at around -270. Switzerland and Serbia follow in the betting rankings, with Switzerland considered to have a small advantage over Serbia, while Cameroon are the Group G underdogs.
| World Cup Group G Winners |  |  |  |
| Brazil | -280 | -265 | -225 |
| Switzerland | +550 | +500 | +450 |
| Serbia | +600 | +600 | +550 |
| Cameroon | +1400 | +1225 | +1200 |
Betting on the World Cup Group G Winners
The World Cup is being held in November this year to avoid the intense summer heat in Qatar, which presents some difficulties for the players as the majority of them will be in the middle of their domestic seasons. Even though the heat and humidity will be lower than in the summer, certain teams may still find it difficult to adjust, particularly Switzerland and Serbia.
The top two teams in Group G will advance to the knockout rounds after playing each other once. There are three points for a win and one point for a tie and history tells us that a team needs five, six, seven, or nine points to advance, while four points—the equivalent of one victory, one draw, and one loss—give a team a fifty-fifty chance of getting through to the knockout stages.
Brazil Too Short in Group Winner Market
Brazil haven’t won the World Cup since 2002 and arguably won’t be over their 2014 failure, when they lost 7-0 to Germany in front of their own fans, until they win it again.
Once again, they are going to the tournament with an array of attacking talents, including Neymar, Vinicius Junior, Richarlison, Gabriel Jesus and Raphinha, along with veterans, Dani Alves, Fred and Thiago Silva. They also dominated their CONMEBOL qualifying tournament, winning 14 out of 17 games and going undefeated throughout. At the 2018 World Cup, they also faced Switzerland and Serbia and had no problem topping the Group, and I expect them to dominate once again, but that is factored into their current odds and they are too short to bet on in this market.
Switzerland Have the Edge on Serbia
Four years ago, Switzerland edged out Serbia 2-1 in their Group clash and I think we will see something similar this time around. The Swiss team may not be good enough to win a World Cup, but reaching the knockout stages is definitely within their ability.
In fact, Switzerland have made it to the last sixteen in three of their last four major competitions, and their settled side, which includes Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri, along with veteran goalkeeper Yann Sommer, has the experience to come through the Group stage once again. They came through a difficult qualification campaign, beating Italy to top their Group and they look a good bet to qualify.
Serbia Overeliant on Mitrovic
Serbia can be tough opponents and their success in qualifying on top of Group A was impressive. German fans may also remember their defeat to Serbia in the 2010 World Cup. However, it is worth noting that Serbia has not reached the knockout stages of a major tournament since 1998, and notably failed to do so four years ago when they lost to Brazil and Switzerland.
In Dusan Tadic they have a strong creative outlet and Aleksandar Mitrovic is one of the most prolific forwards in Europe, despite playing for Fulham, one of the smaller Premier League teams. Unfortunately, having such a reliable forward inevitably leads his teammates to target him constantly and at their worst, the Serbian game plan defaults to long balls and crosses aimed at Mitrovic. This overreliance on their best striker can make them one-dimensional and they don’t look a good bet to progress.
No Surprises from Cameroon
Cameroon’s stunning performance in 1990, when they came close to reaching the semi-finals, set the standard for African nations in the World Cup, but they have struggled to replicate that success and haven’t been out of the Group stage at any of their five subsequent tournaments.
They finished a solid third in the AFCON but as host nation more was expected and that relative failure led to the departure of head coach Toni Conceicao and his replacement by Rigobert Song, the most-capped player in Cameroon’s history.
Under Song, they’ve lost two and won two so far, though the 2-1 away victory over Algeria with which they secured their World Cup place was a remarkable performance. Still, there is an overall lack of quality in the Cameroon squad and having landed in a tough Group, I don’t think we will see any surprises from Cameroon in Qatar this November.
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