I thought we could have a thread where we discuss bets on the World Cup.

I'm looking at the odds for the golden boot right now. Messi and Neymar have got the lowest odds. No surprises there really. I think the outsiders are much more interesting though. Aside from Ronaldo in 2002 I can't think of a World Cup I've seen where the most obvious suspects actually ended up as top goalscorers. My bet on Diego Forlan as the golden boot winner back in 2010 paid for my vacation that year. He had something insane like 70/1 in odds. There's similarly good money to be had this year.

I think Falcao will be this year's Diego Forlan. His odds are 40/1, which is incredible when you consider that he just finished the season with 24 goals in 36 games for Monaco. Colombia are underrated by the bookies too. They bring a strong team to the WC, spearheaded by James, Falcao and Cuadrado. Their group is easy too. They're playing Japan, Poland and Senegal. You'd expect them to finish top and a striker like Falcao to score anything between 3-5 goals against that opposition. After that it will be up to who they face in the knockout rounds. The winners from Colombia's group face the runner ups from Group G. A lot of people presume that England and Belgium will finish in the two top spots in Group G, but I think Tunisia will qualify from that group at someone's expense.

14 days later

Lewandowski at 35/1 for the Golden Boot worth a punt?

What are Griezmann's odds? I guess the trouble with France is they might share the scoring around too much, but I think they're a decent chance to get to the semis or final.

Gone all in on Messi just for the fucks of it. Top scorer, player of the tournament and Argentina as champions.

i wouldnt put my money on messi as top scorer.. he's never scored more than 5 goals in any international tournament, ever. i could honestly see at least 5 players scoring more than him

Would love it if he somehow really turned it on this time, grabbed this competition by the throat.

Jens wrote:

Lewandowski at 35/1 for the Golden Boot worth a punt?

I think he'll go missing just like he did in the Euros. The Bayern fans think he's shocking in big games.

If I don’t make atleast £5k from the World Cup I’ll be pissed

Suarez top scorer at 28/1. Piss easy group. Cash out after their third game

Klaus wrote:
Jens wrote:

Lewandowski at 35/1 for the Golden Boot worth a punt?

I think he'll go missing just like he did in the Euros. The Bayern fans think he's shocking in big games.

He absolutely does, only scores against weaker sides and even there it's usually after others have scored before him, laughable that Bayern scum actually think he's the best #9 in the world.

That said he'll probably score a couple in the group stage none of the teams in Poland's group can defend.

Possibly, jones. Anything could happen if Poland are off to a good start. He didn't even have a shot on target during the group stages in the Euros though. 😆 I think even at 35/1 the odds are too low for me to be bothered with such a long shot. I fully expect Colombia to win that group.

Best punt for golden boot winner is Giroud at 40/1 IMO.

Giroud almost always starts for France with Griezmann playing off him. Unless something's changed over the last year as I haven't watched too many France games recently.

Thing with France is that the likelihood of goals being shared around the team is quite high

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Don't think he'll start.

On what basis?

They didn't have Mbappe and Dembele the last time.

18 days later
Tambourine Man wrote:

Gone all in on Messi just for the fucks of it. Top scorer, player of the tournament and Argentina as champions.

ouch

USArsenal wrote:
Tambourine Man wrote:

Gone all in on Messi just for the fucks of it. Top scorer, player of the tournament and Argentina as champions.

ouch

Yeahhh. That's AUD500 I won't be seeing again. It's about 275 pounds I think. Not the end of the world but annoying.