The 2022 Fifa World Cup gets under way in Qatar on Sunday 20th November and we begin our build up with a look at the betting and the prospects of the teams in Group A which includes the Netherlands, Senegal, Ecuador and the host nation.
Odds provided by @Playabets are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Qatar
The host nation qualify automatically so Qatar remain something of an unknown having played mainly friendly internationals over the last couple of years. They have a ranking of 50 and this is their first appearance in the finals. Felix Sanchez is the coach and it will be interesting to see how they go.
Selected Outright Odds
To win the tournament 250/1
To win Group A 14/1
To Qualify from Group A 3/1
To Finish Bottom of Group A 6/10
Ecuador
Ecuador finished fourth in the South American qualifying group, 2 points behind Uruguay but well off Argentina and Brazil to advance to the finals automatically.
They had to survive protests from Chile and Peru concerning eligibility of one of the players in the qualifiers, 7 of which they won, 5 were drawn and 6 ended in defeat.
Ecuador are ranked 44th in the world and their strength has been their home form with games played at altitude. Brighton's Moises Caicedo is one of the star performers and the team is coached by Gustavo Alfaro.
Selected Outright Odds
To win the tournament 150/1
To win Group A 5/1
To Qualify from Group A 8/10
To Finish Bottom of Group A 7/2
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Senegal
Senegal are one of five African representatives and arguably the best hope for the continent. They were unbeaten in their qualifying group with 5 wins and 1 draw and then they beat Egypt 2-1 on aggregate over 2 legs of the African region play offs.
They also won the AFCON title in Cameroon earlier this year, again beating Egypt in the final and they are ranked 18th in the world.
Senegal coach Aliou Cisse has just learned that Sadio Mane who picked up a knock for Bayern recently has been ruled out of the tournament. A number of other Premier League stars are in the squad including Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Idrissa Gana Gueye, Cheikhou Kouyate and Nampalys Mendy.
Selected Outright Odds
To win the tournament 125/1
To win Group A 4.75/1
To Qualify from Group A 9/10
To Finish Bottom of Group A 33/10
Netherlands
Louis van Gaal coaches the Netherlands who topped their qualifying group with a record of 7 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat to finish 2 points clear of Turkey and 5 clear of Norway whilst Montenegro, Latvia and Gibraltar were the also rans.
The Dutch are on a 15 match unbeaten run across all competitions which includes Nations League wins at home and away to Belgium and they are ranked 8th in the world. Virgil van Dijk is the star turn in defence whilst Memphis Depay has been included in the squad despite having missed recent Barcelona games through injury.
Selected Outright Odds
To win the tournament 12/1
To win Group A 0.42/1
To Qualify from Group A 0.12/1
To Finish Bottom of Group A 33/1
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Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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