World Cup 2018 Betting Preview PT 1

There is a lot of action and excitement still to unfold as we get closer to the kick off of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. While we still have the play-off’s ahead of us to decide who actually gets into the final stages of the world’s biggest football tournament, there are already a lot of fascinating plotlines beginning to emerge these days.

One of the most notable is going to be the absence of a couple of big teams that normally make an impression at these types of tournaments. The Netherlands has failed to qualify and this has led to the international retirement of a few notable players - Arjen Robben chief among them.

The United States also endured a horrible embarrassment as they lost 2-1 to Trinidad & Tobago in a must-win fixture just a few days ago - allowing Panama to secure their berth in the World Cup for the first time in the Central American nation’s history.

England were able to qualify with a few relatively routine - if not horribly boring - match-ups against the final sides left in their relatively simple group. Amongst the top sides in the world (which some would argue England shouldn’t be included in) you would have to say that Gareth Southgate’s side had probably the easiest lineup of competition.

They were able to get the better of virtually every other team except for the draw against Scotland, which flattered the Scots, frankly. This bodes well for their ability to handle the more mediocre competition they are liable to run up against in the early stages of the World Cup - but you have to admit that England will need to step it up significantly if they wind up in a Group of Death scenario - and that’s a place they haven’t found themselves in for quite a while so you would have to reckon that some punters might think they are due.