Can The Men From Sweden Win The World Cup In Russia?

Sweden aren’t the only team to be constructed around just one player, but when that player is Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his knee injury removes him from the roster for World Cup Qualifiers things can look a little grim for their prospects. However the men from Sweden have confounded expectations and look set to squeeze their way into the finals next year, the question is, should you back them at Bet365 to win the 2018 World Cup?

You have to feel a little sorry for Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho who has had to see his star player sidelined until, he has estimated, at least until January, and whatever Zlatan Ibrahimovic might himself hint, that seems a fair assessment of the injury the striker picked up in a Europa League match against Anderlecht back in April. However whilst Man Utd have a depth of squad that can in some way make up for the hole left behind, the men from Sweden playing for their nation are less blessed.

If you like to bet on sports in Sweden the chances are you’re already aware of the progress that the national side has made in their campaign to reach the finals in Russia, and with France just a point ahead, and the Netherlands three points behind, the men from Sweden can realistically count on at least a runner’s up play-off place as one of the best eight second place teams of the nine group system. Partly because of their own success but also because of the slump that has beset some in Group A.

Sweden Don’t Exactly Struggle Without Zlatan

Zlatan Ibrahivomic (source: 101 Great Goals)

The Netherlands in particular have not quite been firing on all cylinders leaving them in an also ran third place in the group barely ahead of Bulgaria who likewise haven’t managed to rise to their peak form. Even France have had their moments, the nil-nil draw against Luxembourg springs to mind, where the firing line of Thomas Lemar, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe all failed to find the mark. This might not be of much comfort to the men from Sweden given they play the plucky Luxembourgers next.

Luxembourg are sat on equal points with Belarus at the bottom of the group and despite their miracle against the group leaders, shouldn’t necessarily be much of an obstacle for the men from Sweden, and anyone taking advantage of Swedish gambling laws to bet on the match will find the odds at sites like Bet365 reflect that, the Swedes 1/33 favorites ahead of the 35/1 opposition. This should be enough to see them into the play-offs, although the odds on a draw, at 19/1 are alarmingly short to my mind.

Back The Men From Sweden At Bet365

Janne Anderson (source: Cafe.se)

Recent Zlatan-free performances have demonstrated the men from Sweden, under Janne Andersson, are nearly as capable without the megastar as with him among their ranks, perhaps hinting at more quality in the Swedish side, something their 4-0 drubbing of Belarus in the last round of matches would attest to. This means that just perhaps the bookies like Bet365 are just a tad less than generous in their 150/1 odds on them winning the 2018 World Cup in Russia, especially given the odds on the Netherlands.

Despite their sub-par campaign so far the Dutch get 66/1 to win the World Cup perhaps reflecting that whilst only in third place now their next opponents are Belarus, a game they’re expected to win. There will be many a fan in Manchester and Sweden gambling news reports that Zlatan could be back sooner than next year are true, but knee injuries are tricky beasts and I doubt anyone will hurry to risk their prized asset sooner than necessary, so the men from Sweden might have to do this without him.