Can Young Belgian Team Win in Brazil: Early World Cup Betting Odds

Belgium are certainly underdogs for the upcoming World Cup, but this only means that betting on them is super-exciting.

Les Diables Rouges are considered to be dark horses according to many experts and punters under Belgian gambling laws. The Belgians haven’t participated in the last 3 World Cups, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have experience.

Moreover, their best achievement, a fourth place, came in Mexico back in 1986, making them kinda familiar with the South American surroundings during a World Cup. With 19.00 odds on Marc Wilmots' men at online sportsbooks in Belgium, they are actually fifth in line to take the trophy, well ahead of the likes of France, Italy, England, and Portugal.

The road to Brazil

Belgium had quite a tricky qualification campaign, but managing to beat group mates Serbia, Wales, Croatia, and Scotland on their way to the top of the table. While lots of people who bet on sport in Belgium have expected the team to top the qualification group, no one anticipated them doing so without a single defeat.

Belgium won the qualification group collecting the same amount of points as Germany and Netherlands, which is way more than anyone else in Europe. They are now priced at 7.00 for becoming the best European team at the World Cup in Brazil.

The squad

The Belgians will have a lot of easily recognizable in faces on their team (especially in England). 13 of the footballers are playing in the Premier League. Naturally, the biggest star is Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, but there is also a long list of familiar faces on the team.

Betting on Belgium at World Cup

• Belgium are considered to be dark horses at the World Cup
• Majority of online sportsbooks in Belgium are ready for betting action
• Smart bet is to wager on Lukaku becoming Belgium’s top scorer

Belgian team has quality in every part of the squad. Thibaut Courtois is young, but very good on the goal. Vincent Kompany is there at the back to prevent the ball from reaching the goal area. And the offense is quite impressive with the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin Mirallas, Kevin De Bruyne and of course Hazard.

While the loss of Christian Benteke to injury is certainly painful, but it opens the door for Lukaku and Divock Origi to become the top scorers for Belgium at 2.20 and 13.00 odds respectively. Hazard is priced at 7.00 in this respect, and Mirallas got 9.00 odds. But considering they only scored 18 goals in 10 fixtures, the team really needs to find the back of the net more often.

Wilmots will most probably stick to his 4-5-1 formation, where the defensive wall is complemented by a single striker with creative support from midfield. The coach has been right to rely on the youngsters in qualifying and there seems to be no reason to believe they will do any less at the World Cup itself. However, the lack of any tournament experience could play a bad joke with the Belgians.

The draw and betting odds

Les Diables Rouges have been drawn in a relatively easy group H with Russia, Algeria, and South Korea. They are the favorites to qualify from first spot with 1.67 odds, but the smartest bet is reaching the knockouts from any position at 1.17.

Back at the 2002 World Cup, it was Wilmots who scored the winner in the 3-2 match against Russia. Belgium lost one and drew one of their two previous meets with South Korea, and have never faced Algeria before in any competitive match.

Considering it will be either Germany or Portugal against them in the last 16, the line of 2.10 for Belgium reaching the quarters is a bit short. Should they reach the quarter-finals it will most probably be Argentina for them. Reaching the semis will pay at 4.00, and the final – 8.00. The combo on them facing Brazil in the final pays nicely at 26.00.

The odds of 4.00 on Belgium being eliminated in the quarters looks like a safe bet, but since they truly are dark horses of the tournament, they might as well go further. The prices for Les Diables Rouges being eliminated in the semi-final and final are 7.50 and 13.00 respectively.