When it comes to sportsbook betting tips, backing Brazil to win the 2018 World Cup sounds like a no-brainer. However, it also shows a great deal of confidence on the Green-and-Yellow. You have to be truly special to bounce back from one of your worse defeats ever. And become the favorite to win the most important sporting competition on Earth, no less. As you’ll recall, Brazil suffered, if not an upset, certainly an upsetting 1-7 loss to Germany in 2014. It was the semifinals of the World Cup. It was in front of their own fans, who ended up cheering on the Germans and booing the Brazilians. It was soul-crushing. Dream-smashing. Heart-breaking. It was their biggest ever loss at the World Cup and first home loss in an official game since 1975. It was as if Brock Lesnar went to the Vatican and F5ed the Pope inside the Sistine Chapel.
And yet. Here we are. Four years later. Brazil is the favorite to go all the way in Russia. Not for nothing, the seleção owns the best overall performance in this competition. Seventy wins in 104 games played, 119 goal difference, 227 points, and just 17 losses. They are also the most successful squad in the history of the tourney with five World Cup wins. Needless to say, Brazil is a perennial favorite. You know that movie, Alive? Something like that would have to happen in order for the Brazilians not to be favorites. There is just one caveat. They say it’s lonely at the top. But Brazil has good company. Or rather company that is good. World champion-good. Germany. Brazil’s nemesis. Their white whale. Their bete noir. The Germans are right up there, too. Strange bedfellows, right? Why can’t they just get along, like in The Boys from Brazil?
Brazil’s odds at the 2018 World Cup per BetAnySports:
- To win Group E: -385
- To win outright: +400
The Brazilians will have plenty of cannon fodder with which to practice their marksmanship in the group stage. Not to take anything away from Costa Rica, Switzerland, and Serbia, but those three will be competing for second place. By way of contrast, second place is not an option for Brazil. It never is. Neither in the group stage nor the knockout phase. This unwritten rule was duly demonstrated during the South American World Cup qualifiers. The Brazilians won 12 games, with five draws and a single loss. They finished on the very tippy-top, 10 points ahead of second place Uruguay. Additionally, they scored 41 goals and conceded just 11.
That was certainly a return to form for the Green-and-Yellow. In fact, it was the first time they topped the World Cup Qualifiers leaderboard since 2011. Brazil was also the first nation to qualify for Brazil,” coincided with the arrival of manager Tite. Known for his silver tongue, Tite relieved the disgraced Dunga, who will forever carry that 1-7 brand of shame.
Tite took a national football team that was in complete disarray and turned it around. Not entirely unlike Brazilian captain Neymar. He left a cozy position with Barcelona for the not-quite-greener pastures of Paris St. Germain. Like Kyrie Irving in the NBA, he wanted to prove he was better than the best. Luckily he can’t – or won’t – leave Brazil for, say, Egypt, or Sweden. Otherwise, even the best online sportsbook wouldn’t be so keen on the seleção winning the World Cup. And speaking of Neymar, he recently said he’s not at a 100% yet following right foot surgery, but he’s “ready to play” in Russia.