2018 World Cup Group Odds: Colombia Among Favorites in Group Betting
Colombia's James Rodriguez was the surprise star of the 2014 World Cup, winning the Golden Boot for the most goals scored in the tournament with six. Rodriguez will try to lead Colombia to another strong performance in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
As a member of the most evenly-matched group in this year's tournament, Colombia is a +120 favorite to win Group H at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Group H also includes Poland at +175, Senegal at +500 and Japan at +700.
No other group favorite on the board is going off at more than EVEN to win its group and no other group longshot is going off at less than +1000. Colombia and Poland are certainly the favorites in Group H, but this could be the type of group that gets turned upside down as well.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, the three biggest chalk favorites in the 2018 World Cup group stage are Brazil at -400 to win Group E, France at -350 to win Group C and Germany at -310 to win Group F.
Germany's group has some punch in it with Mexico (+500) and Sweden (+600). While not quite as deep or complete as Germany, Mexico has a very strong team led by a goaltender in Guillermo Ochoa that is capable of stealing a result when at his best.
And Sweden can't be discounted after outlasting the Netherlands in the qualifying stage and then beating Italy in a playoff. Germany should prevail, but it will be no cakewalk. Besides South Korea (+2000), which will be just that.
France will look to hold off Denmark (+450), Peru (+900) and Australia (+1800) in Group C, while Brazil will face Switzerland (+600), Serbia (+800) and Costa Rica (+1800) in Group E.
Those looking for a spot to fade one of the big favorites on the World Cup group stage betting lines might be intrigued by Denmark, who have a striker in Christian Eriksen that rarely misses on his opportunities to score.
The other groups on the board are Group A (Uruguay +100, Russia +125, Egypt +550 and Saudi Arabia +3300), Group B (Spain -200, Portugal +185, Morocco +1600 and Iran +2500), Group D (Argentina -180, Croatia +225, Nigeria +1000 and Iceland +1200) and Group G (Belgium -125, England +120, Tunisia +1600 and Panama +2500).
