The Official World Cup Futures Thread

[psv777ua]

Argentina + 900

[Jimmy0607]

YES lakerboy I accept , are you kidding this squad is 10 times better than in 02 , we had no strikers , no midfield , recoba sucks , he never did shit for Uruguay

I do agree that every call is gonna go south africas favor so that makes it tougher

[lakerboy]

Spain had never won anything until they won the European championship in 2008.

The one thing you can always be certain of is that British fans bet up the price of England. Shorting England is money in the bank.

It will be too cold for Brazil. They've benefited many times from scorching summer heat (that weakened European teams), but this will not be one of those times.

Italy has no chance. Nor does France. Both lack the quality this time around.

I don't think any of the African teams has a real shot at the title.

That leaves: Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, and Argentina.

Spain has essentially adopted its playing style from the Netherlands. Spain used to play very differently before their success in 2008. I have discarded Germany too often in the past. They're not exciting, but they can do a lot with very little.

If I had to pick two teams for the final I'd take Spain and Argentina.

Spain won the euro title in 1964.

[pavyracer]

Spain + 450
Brazil + 500

Bet these two for one unit and one of them will be in the Final for sure so you can hedge on the final day.

[Shark79]

YES lakerboy I accept , are you kidding this squad is 10 times better than in 02 , we had no strikers , no midfield , recoba sucks , he never did shit for Uruguay

I do agree that every call is gonna go south africas favor so that makes it tougher

Your guys barely made it to the WC ... you guys barely won against Costa Rica, and you really expect this team to go to a quarterfinal, come on Jimmy .. I would love to see that, but reality tells me no.

[Shark79]

Argentina, Spain and Brazil for me.

[lakerboy]

Spain is gonna choke like usual at the world cup.

[Jimmy0607]

Guys Spain is not going to win it.

Sharky Barely means we still made it , and it doesnt matter how you qualify because the world cup its a whole different thing than qualifiers because if we are gonna go by that , than Argentina, France and Portugal have no chance

[Jimmy0607]

Exactly LB their best World cup was 1950 and they got a 4th place

[SoV]

I really like how people are making Spain the underdogs here. No team apart from Brazil comes close to Spain right now. Spain are solid in every position, and have some fantastic back-up incase of injuries to main players.

I wouldn't discard a team consisting of Casillas, Pique, Puyol, Ramos, Arbeloa, Capdeville, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Iniesta, David Silva, Fabregas, Villa, Torres, Juan Mata etc. among others.

[SoV]

Spain is gonna choke like usual at the world cup.

Yea, like France did in 1998.

[lakerboy]

Yea, like France did in 1998.

France wasn't the favorite. Let's see what happens just promise you will post here when spain goes out like I will either way.

[rfr3sh]

How many times has the favourite won the WC

[alukk]

Spain is gonna choke like usual at the world cup.

Thats for sure

[Kemalettin]

Argentina is my fav on this cup

[Shark79]

Spain is gonna choke like usual at the world cup.

I hope they dont, they have a strong head coach, el bigoton should shake that off.

[mihaita666]

lakerboy, ive seen france many times, very closely in the last years. we (romania) played against them 3 times .
1st time -euro 2008, 0-0, a typical 0-0 if you know what i mean
wc qualifiers - 2-2 in romania (2-0 for us after 30 minutes, than they attacked more and scored twice, making it a draw)
wc qualifiers - 1-1 in france, they deserved the victory

What i want to say is that tactically, france sux as long as domenech is their coach

[mihaita666]

How many times has the favourite won the WC

generally, few teams that are favoured in a mjaor competition win : barcelona last year and few seasons ago, brasil whenever they win the WC

[Jimmy0607]

Argentina and france were favored in 02 both went home fast

[SoV]

France wasn't the favorite. Let's see what happens just promise you will post here when spain goes out like I will either way.

After all the stuff with Ronaldo, France were established as favourites. Also, they had a team, which consisted of Desailly, Zidane, Petit, Barthez etc. and it's fair to say, many had tipped them to do well in the World Cup.

Also, I'll continue to post even after Spain's loss since I'm rooting for England at the World Cup.

[SoV]

How many times has the favourite won the WC

Plenty of favourites have won the World Cup over the years. Italy in 2006, Brazil in 2002, France in '98, Brazil in '94, England in '66, Italy in '82, West Germany in '90 etc. etc. etc.

There are plenty of favourites for different reasons, and one among them will definitely win the World Cup.

[SoV]

...

[Jimmy0607]

Plenty of favourites have won the World Cup over the years. Italy in 2006, Brazil in 2002, France in '98, Brazil in '94, England in '66, Italy in '82, West Germany in '90 etc. etc. etc. There are plenty of favourites for different reasons, and one among them will definitely win the World Cup.

Brazil was not a favorite in 02. Italy was not a favorite in 06, Italy was not the favorite in 82

[SoV]

Brazil was not a favorite in 02. Italy was not a favorite in 06, Italy was not the favorite in 82

Not for you, maybe.

Brazil was 6/1 to win the World Cup for 2002, compared to Spain who are 5/1 to win the 2010 WC.

To win 2006 World Cup Italy were 17/2, compared to 14s right now.

[ararat2010]

Brazil

[RockyS]

Slovenia will beat them all!

[Czu81]

The Black Stars will shine in Africa, nobody talks about Ghana, they are the most under the radar team. Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon take all the spotlight in Africa, none will make it past the first round except maybe Cameroon.

Everybody laughs at Ghana but they are much better than people think.

I like Uruguay aswell, Tabarez is doing a good job with the team, alot of talent there which is being well organized.

Ghana is strong team but they need some good striker. I like the underdogs: Uruguay, Ghana, Cameroon..

[JRLM8]

Article on FIFA.com about Destiny Calling for Argentina.

Short hand version:
It has been 24 years since Argentina last won the World Cup. Both Brazil and Italy went through a 24 year drought before winning the title again.
Both this team and the 1982 team qualified on the last day of qualifiers.
Maradona was the best player in the World in 1982. Messi is the best player now.
Argentina's coach of the 82 team is now the general manager.

[Sforz]

Betphoenix World Cup Futures as of 2/24/10
Spain + 450
Brazil + 500
England + 600
Argentina + 900
Germany + 1200
Italy + 1200
Holland + 1400
France + 1400
Portugal + 2500
Ivory Coast + 2500
Chile + 5000
Serbia + 6500
Paraguay + 5000
Ghana + 5000
Australia + 12500
Denmark + 10000
Cameroon + 8000
USA + 6600
Mexico + 6000
South Africa + 8000
Uruguay + 9000
Nigeria + 10000
Greece + 12500
Switzerland + 17500
Japan + 20000
Slovakia + 15000
Slovenia + 17500
South Korea + 25000
Algeria + 20000
Honduras + 20000
North Korea + 75000
New Zealand + 75000

Betphoenix World Cup Futures as of 4/6/10

Spain + 400
Brazil + 500
England + 600
Argentina + 750
Germany + 1400
Italy + 1200
Holland + 1500
France + 1800
Portugal + 3000
Ivory Coast + 2500
Chile + 6000
Serbia + 7000
Paraguay + 7500
Ghana + 7500
Australia + 12500
Denmark + 10000
Cameroon + 8000
USA + 7500
Mexico + 7500
South Africa + 12000
Uruguay + 10000
Nigeria + 12500
Greece + 15000
Switzerland + 25000
Japan + 40000
Slovakia + 30000
Slovenia + 30000
South Korea + 30000
Algeria + 50000
Honduras + 80000
North Korea + 100000
New Zealand + 100000

[Sforz]

Maybe I'm just high on Messi, but Argentina +750 (+800 other places) looks tasty... down from +900 a month ago

[Shark79]

I took 'em at +900 ... I feel good about it.

[iam416]

First post. Brazil +500. Maybe pair it with Argentina at +750.

Riding history on this one. No European nation has ever won the Cup off the continent. Brazil, IMO, is clear first choice of no Euro nations.

[JRLM8]

Argentina is still +1000 (10/1) at bodog.

[necro]

Slovenia will beat them all!

All in on SLO DNB against Algeria

[psv777ua]

Argentina is still +1000 (10/1) at bodog.