Who can win the 2010 World Cup?

In just over 6 months… 32 teams from around the globe will compete in the greatest sporting tournament in the world. In the summer of 2010, South Africa will come to life as it hosts the World Cup.

On December 4th the draw was made for the group stages of the tournament and it gave us a little bit of a clearer idea as to who might progress and lift the Jules Rimet trophy. Many of you will no doubt be have a bet on who will win the World Cup, so we have looked at the key teams and players to help you decide where you should be putting your money (all betting odds supplied by bwin.com – the online betting specialists).

Argentina – 10/1

With the world’s great footballer, Lionel Messi, at their disposal Argentina can not be overlooked as contenders for the World Cup. However there are so many factors against them this time around. A poor perform during qualifying for the FIFA World Cup saw them rely on winning their last fixture to qualify. Add to that the fact that they have not figured beyond the quarter-final stage of the tournament since 1986, when Maradonna’s infamous hand-ball against England, and you can just about safely rule out Argentina as a major threat.

Germany – 10/1

Germany were unbeaten in qualifying as group winners and stumbled to draws only twice. This along with their World Cup record has to keep them in mind when betting on the World Cup. Germany have won the World Cup three times and finished runner’s up on four occasions making them one of the most successful international footballing sides. While their side of today may not have the greatest strength in depth, it still possess some of the world’s greatest players in Michael Ballack and Lukas Podolski, with the latter having one of the best goal scoring records in all of international football (a strike rate of 0.7 per game).

England – 7/1

On paper England have one of the strongest 11 line-ups in the world. With world-class players gracing every part of the pitch there is nothing to suggest England can’t go all the way in 2010. With a group that includes Algeria and Slovenia you would certainly expect England to go on to win their group but beyond that is where the trouble lies. Since 1966 England has always played the supporting role and in all likely-hood will find themselves stumbling at the final hurdle once more. With a second round fixture against either Germany or Australia on the cards, England will be stretched as soon as they hit in the knock-out stages and at odds of 7/1 should be avoided.

Brazil – 6/1

As the 2nd highest ranked side in the world according to FIFA, it should come as no surprise that Brazil are 2nd favourites to lift the World Cup in 2010. Indeed, until the draw was made for the group stages Brazil were in fact joint favourites along with Spain. However, a tough group phase against Portugal and Ivory Coast lies ahead… in addition to a tricky tie against North Korea. But with the likes of Robinho and Kaka Brazil should certainly have sufficient flair to cruise through to the knock-out stages.

Spain – Favourites – 5/1

Spain aim to follow up their Euro 2008 victory with a World Cup success in South Africa. When it comes to the World Cup, however, Spain are always stumbling… and it’s usually at the first hurdle. Spain haven’t gone past the Quarter Finals since 1950 (the only year they ever reached the Semi-Finals) and failed to get past the 2nd knock-out phase in 2006. But their squad still boasts almost all of  the stars from the side which won the Euro’s the summer before last which makes them not only favourites with the betting sites, but also favourites with us.

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