Betting Sites Make Wales Odds-On Favourites for World Cup Qualification

Wales are one game away from reaching the FIFA World Cup for just the second time in their history, and the bookmakers’ odds indicate that Ryan Giggs’ side are more likely than not to make it to Qatar.

On Sunday, June 5th, the Dragons will play the winner of Wednesday’s game between Scotland and Ukraine, and whoever comes out on top will join England, Iran, and USA in Group B of the tournament.

BetVictor have priced Wales at 8/11 for qualification, while Scotland are at 5/2 and Ukraine are the outsiders at 10/3.

Scotland go into their play-off semi-final against Ukraine as slight favourites to progress. BetUK, one of the best betting sites according to BookiesBonuses.com experts, has the Scots at 3/5 to go through while Ukraine can be backed at 5/4.

Ukraine are unbeaten since their 4-0 defeat by England in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals, and Scotland have put together an impressive run of eight games without a loss.

The sides have only met twice before – both during the World Cup 2008 qualifying campaign in which they traded victories in Kiev and Glasgow respectively.

Wales don’t have a particularly deep history of matches against Ukraine either, and if they are to meet on Sunday, Wales will be looking for their first ever triumph against the 2006 World Cup quarter-finalists.

Both meetings between Wales and Ukraine during the 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign finished 1-1, and in their most recent match-up, a friendly in Kiev in 2016, Ukraine secured a 1-0 win.

The Wales-Scotland rivalry, however, dates way back to 1876, and while the Scots dominated most encounters in the 19th century, the more recent success has belonged to Wales, who have won six of the last eight fixtures that the two have contested.

All three potential qualifiers are a huge price to win the World Cup, with Wales at 200/1, Ukraine at 300/1, and Scotland at 350/1.

Brazil are the favourites, with odds of either 9/2 or 5/1 depending on where you place your wagers.

France are generally second in the betting at 11/2, while England are a touch bigger at 6/1 or even 13/2 with a few firms.

Spain can be backed at 8/1, and Argentina are the only other team in single figures at 9/1.

Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, and Portugal are all between the 10/1 to 16/1 range, and then there is a big dropoff to Denmark who are a 33/1 shot.

Croatia, runners-up four years ago, might be the most appealing dark horse at 66/1, and the same could be said for Senegal at 100/1.

Two more spots at the World Cup are yet to be decided. The AFC-CONMEBOL winner will slot into Group D, while the CONCACAF-OFC winners – either Costa Rica or New Zealand – are set to join Spain, Germany, and Japan in Group E.

Image credit: Cardiff scenes as Wales footballers receive a hero’s welcome returning from UEFA Euro in 2016

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tim_P%C3%AAl-droed_Cymru_Bws_Agored_Caerdydd.jpg