2026 ODDS Cup Cup: England among the favorites, but why is Brazil still at the top of Argentina?
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The 2026 World Cup cycle is in complete flow, since March has seen the first four qualified teams for the direct elimination phases. Japan was the first through the door to join the hosts United States, Mexico and Canada, then New Zealand, Iran and Argentina joined them shortly after.
With the points that are filled, we soon take a look at the chances of the bets to win the tournament, we discuss the possibilities of the favorites and choose some candidates on the dark horse.
European favorites
France and Spain are classified as joint favorites for the 11/2 tournament BetfairConfirming the belief of the bookmakers who at this stage a European winner is the most likely result. England is slightly in 13/2.
Evaluation of Spain which is very justified. After all, they won € 2024 in Swashbuckling style, playing the best football by far and deservedly raising the trophy at the end. It is obvious that some of those players, such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and Pedri, will be even better by 2026. They should also get Gavi (who has lost the tournament due to a torn ACL) even in the fold.
France is a price equal to Spain feels a little disconcerting at first sight, but when you remember that the two played an incredibly close semifinal to 2024 euros, it has a little more sense.
They are built differently for Spain – first defensively solid, so the attack settles around Kylian Mbappé – but can be equally effective. With Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola and Ousmane dembélé that currently flourishing in Paris Saint-Germain, there is hope that Les Bleus will be able to climb later than 2026.
England is an interesting favorite third. Two consecutive European championship Finals and a strong loss in France in the last world cup suggest that this team is on the cusp and perhaps appoints an excellent manager in Thomas Tuchel can be the turning point.
Brazil on Argentina? But why?
Brazil currently has a price like the most probable South American nation to win the 2026 World Cup, reaching 6/1, while Argentina is more outside 8/1 – and honestly, it is difficult to understand why.
A glance at the Conmebol qualifying table will show that the Albiceleste is very the upper team, 10 points free from their old rivals, and recently they beat them 4-1 despite Lionel Messi and Lautaro Martínez were injured. Add the fact that they are the reigning world champions and makes it even more disconcerting.
Perhaps the thought here is that given that Messi will make 39 in the middle of the next World Cup, it will be very low of its best and will probably be only able to play the role of a substitute. In the meantime, in Canary Yellow, Vinícius Jr and Rodrygo will be reachable, while prodigious talents such as Endrick and Estêvão could climb the limelight.
But this ignores the fact that not only Brazil has Very To improve to be done in a short period of time to reach their potential, but Argentina has just shown that Julián Álvarez and Co. have a firm response to the post-Pick-Messi era. The first step for Brazil is to appoint a new manager, given Dorival Junior was fired In March.
At this moment, Albiceleste looks like a bet of good value, but the Seleção do not do it.
Candidates of dark horses
The speech of the World Cup is never complete without an in -depth examination of potential dark horses. In reality they never win the tournament, but the deep runs like those of Morocco (fourth in 2022), Costa Rica (quarters of finalists in 2014) and Croatia (third in their debut tournament in 1998) have fun creating some of the best plots.
Looking forward until 2026, Uruguay (25/1) and Ecuador (100/1) seem strong clothes that are in a good place.
Uruguay is managed by the great expert Marcelo Bielsa, playing its iconic aggressive football brand, and boast an excess of players from Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid on which to rely on. The Ecuador is enjoying a generation of gold, led by Moisés Caicedo and was based on a talented defense that has only conceded five goals in 14 qualifying matches.
Perhaps even Norway (80/1) could sneak, since they are fueled by the combination of elite of Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard, therefore supported by a flourishing group of excellent young players. The Scandinavian nation has not actually qualified for a large tournament since 2000, but they started this campaign (nine goals in two games) as if they were hell to correct this.
The betting/probability connections in this article are provided by partners of Atletico. The restrictions can be applied. Atletico maintains complete editorial independence. Partners have no control or input in the report or modification process and do not re -examine the stories before publication.
(Photo by Vinicius Jr: Luis Robayo / AFP via Getty Images)
