The stadium that will host Brazil vs. Morocco in the 2026 World Cup (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
The World Cup is finally here, and while its exorbitant ticket prices have been a big part of the preparations, the actual soccer is finally about to take over. So if you save up enough money to secure a spot at MetLife Stadium on July 19th, which team are you likely to play?
Well, online betting sites have been increasing the prices of their favorite horses for months, and at the top of the odds list is the usual suspect. Latest World Cup Betting with Bovada Current odds make Spain the absolute favorites at 9/2, followed closely by France at 5/1. England are next as third favorites at 7/1. But what could their respective routes to world soccer’s biggest game potentially look like? Let’s take a look at their most likely paths to glory.
Spain
It is a well-known story that Spain achieved a record-breaking top four finish.h European Championship laurels Germany two years ago. Now, their talented young team is looking to take their talents from the continental stage to the world stage. Lamine Yamal For most of the 2024 tournament in Germany, he was only 16 years old. Now 18 years old, he has developed into arguably the best player on the planet and, surrounded by the Barcelona faithful such as Pedri, Gabi, Dani Olmo and Pau Kvarsi, he is now on a mission to bring the famous gold trophy back to Spain for the second time.
His team has the perfect group to do just that. Luis de la Fuente’s side will play debutant Cape Verde in their opening game in Atlanta on June 15, before playing Saudi Arabia five days later at the same stadium. Six points and a ton of goals are almost certain to come from these two games, with their group stage appearance ending on June 26th against Uruguay in Guadalajara.
Spain are made a whopping 1/5 favorite to top Group H by the bookmakers, and it would be a huge shock if they didn’t. Assuming that’s the case, La Roja will likely face either Austria or Algeria at the stunning SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on July 2nd, with a win highly expected. If they win, they will face either Croatia or Colombia in the Round of 16, which would give them enough support to win.
There is a good chance that Spain will advance to the quarterfinal stage without breaking a sweat. There, the United States, Turkey and Belgium are considered the most likely opponents, and are probably the weakest of the favorites to win the tournament at that stage. France, the second-place candidate, will likely be waiting in the semi-finals.
France
France has reached the finals of each of the past two World Cups and is aiming to match a record and reach the finals of three consecutive tournaments this summer. They previously defeated Croatia in the first of two showpiece matches in Moscow. Thriller loss to Argentina on penalties Four years later in Qatar. But if they are to reach the top this summer, they will have to do so without Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud, the two figures who have held the team together for more than a decade.
Even without these two, Les Bleus still have quality all over the pitch, but it is in attack that they are truly lethal. Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Oliseh and Desir Douye make up perhaps the most formidable attacking line-up in the entire tournament, and they will strike fear into every defense they face. However, the road to the finals is still much tougher than that of Spain, who are in first place.
Didier Deschamps’ team was placed in perhaps the most difficult group of the tournament, along with Norway and Senegal. Still, bookmakers have them as 2/5 favorites to top Group I. If they advance, they will head to MetLife Stadium on June 30th to face one of the highest-ranked No. 3 teams.
From there, they will travel to Philadelphia for a Round of 16 clash with fellow powerhouse Germany, before heading to Boston for a quarterfinal match against the Netherlands on July 9. The Spanish team, which has already had ample rest after overcoming the difficult hurdles, is likely to wait in the semifinals. The day of that monster showdown will take place on July 14th in Dallas.
england
Pretender or Contender? That’s the usual question about England. Reaching the last two European Championship finals suggests they are firmly in the latter rather than the former, but the appointment of proven winner Thomas Tuchel only helps their case. In addition to that, Harry Kane’s bloated figureHaving scored 61 goals in 51 games for Bayern Munich this season, he has been named as the favorite to win the Ballon d’Or and it is clear that the Three Lions could make a big splash.
They face banana-peel Croatia in their first match, then have to face Ghana and Panama in Group L. Group L is considered a 1/4 favorite to win. They will also face one of the top-ranked No. 3 teams in Atlanta on July 1, before preparing to take on tournament co-host Mexico in front of thousands of Mexicans at the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
The task will not be any easier in the quarter-finals either, as the Three Lions are likely to gear up for a clash with Brazil in a repeat of the 2002 quarter-final. They would then likely face one of their two modern-day rivals, Argentina or Portugal, in the semi-finals, with the two facing each other in the quarter-finals, with the winner facing England in the semi-finals.
