This Week: Hansel Wei on Betting the World Cup. Read the whole article in Hansel's Zone at GoSportsBet.

As the most popular international sport, fans around the globe are always keen to see the start of the World Cup every four years. However, sharp bettors around the world are also licking their chops, as the tournament presents many opportunities for clever sharps to make a nice profit by wagering on the 32 teams vying for the title of the world’s best soccer team.

This article will address a few points to keep in mind when wagering on the World Cup. First of all, the European style of odds-making can throw some North American bettors for a loop. Don’t hurt your chances by not being totally familiar with the lines – if you need a refresher, see my article on European odds and the World Cup, available on my webpage. Keep in mind how the system works for deciding how teams will advance. This can influence coaching strategies, and can help a sharp bettor identify whether or not teams will be pushing hard for the whole game. The top two teams from each group advance, based on points. Three points are awarded for a win, and one point for a draw. If two or more teams finish with the same number of points, tiebreakers are used. The first decider is goal difference, then total goals scored, followed by head-to-head results, and finally the drawing of lots. There are times when a certain match result in a team’s final game will guarantee that both teams advance. For instance, in the 2002 World Cup, Brazil played Turkey in the last match in their group. If Turkey lost 2-1, drew, or won the game, both Brazil and
Turkey would advance. Crafty bettors identified this, and, knowing that Brazil was the better team, bet on the exact score of the match, Brazil to win, 2-1. Not surprisingly, this was the final score of the game. Unlike in other sports, soccer offers the possibility of a draw. This is a possible outcome for games that cannot be ignored. For coaches, a draw is often an attractive outcome – it secures a valuable point. In a round-robin style preliminary round, while it is always nice to win, it is often more important not to lose. Keep in mind that in the 2002 World Cup, 13 out of 48 group-stage matches ended in a draw, while in the 1998 Tournament, 16 out of 48 matches ended with an even score. Betting the draw can be profitable if you carefully select your positions and look for value when making bets. However, unless there’s a strong angle it might be wiser to pass on the draw as you’re typically betting into a line that has a considerable juice or bookmaker’s commission.

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