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The World Cup is finally here. A few months later than normal but here nonetheless. And the team at RotoBaller has you covered for all your World Cup needs. We'll be bringing you DFS articles, game previews, and betting picks throughout the competition.
To get things going, we're previewing a different group every day until the big kick-off on Sunday, November 20th. We'll be predicting how each group will pan out, what to expect from each nation, and offering our favorite picks for every country involved. We'll be using units for each betting pick to track them, with 10 units being the maximum play for any pick and a total of 25 units played for each group.
Group H appears to be the most open in the tournament. While Ghana (61st) may be the lowest-ranked team, according to FIFA, they’ve reached the knockout stages twice before. South Korea famously made it to the semi-finals as hosts in 2002 and Uruguay are two-time winners (albeit the previous win was in 1950). While Portugal will be the favorites to win the group, there’s no shortage of World Cup pedigree from their three opponents.
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Ghana Preview, Odds, Best Bet, and Predictions
Preview
It's fair to say that the last few years haven't been great for soccer in Ghana. They come into the World Cup ranked 61st in the World, according to FIFA, the lowest of the 32 nations, and without any notable success in recent times. Qualification for the World Cup was by the skin of their teeth, pipping South Africa to the top spot in the group stage, courtesy of scoring more goals, then defeating Nigeria on away goals in the two-legged playoff. Still better than four years ago when they failed to qualify for the World Cup.
At last year's African Cup of Nations, they finished bottom of their group, which contained Gabon (FIFA rank of 81st) and Comoros (129th). They are one of only three African nations to have reached a World Cup quarter-final, achieving the feat in 2010, narrowly (and controversially) losing out to Uruguay on penalties. But they then exited the 2014 World Cup at the group stage, picking up just one point (against Germany).
Prediction
Ghana is far from the African powerhouse they were 10 years ago and while Group H is possibly the easiest on paper, they'll need to overachieve if they are to make it to the second round. I just don't see that happening.
Favorite play: Ghana to finish bottom of Group H (+115) 7 units
Between their poor form and lack of success at recent tournaments, it's hard to make a case for Ghana to be competitive in Group H. I don't believe they will take a heavy defeat in the group and may only lose games by the odd goal, but winning a game might not materialize so finishing last in the group is a pretty likely outcome.
Today's World Cup Sportsbook Odds - Group H
- DraftKings Sportsbook World Cup Odds - Bet Now on DraftKings!
- Ghana to win Group H +1000
- FanDuel Sportsbook World Cup Odds - Bet Now on FanDuel!
- Portugal to win the World Cup +1500
- South Korea to win the World Cup +25000
- BetMGM Sportsbook World Cup Odds - Bet Now on BetMGM!
- Uruguay to win Group H +200
- Uruguay to win the World Cup +4000
- PointsBet Sportsbook World Cup Odds - Bet Now on PointsBet!
- Portugal to win Group H -140
- South Korea to win Group H +1200
- Ghana to win the World Cup +30000
- Caesars Sportsbook World Cup Odds - Bet Now on Caesars
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Portugal Preview, Odds, Best Bet, and Predictions
Preview
Portugal will be making their sixth consecutive World Cup appearance and they'll be hoping it's considerably better than the last three. Since reaching the semi-finals in 2006, they've failed to make the quarter-finals and not won more than one game at any of the last three tournaments. If it wasn't for Cristiano Ronaldo's hat trick against Spain four years ago, they could well have had their second straight first-round exit.
They only just reached the competition this year, coming second in their group behind Serbia and needing to beat Turkey and then North Macedonia in a playoff. At last year's European Championship, they just made it out of the first round (finishing third in the group behind France and Germany) before losing to Belgium in the second round. And in the UEFA Nations League, they finished second in their four-team group behind Spain. They haven't exactly been in the kind of form you want before a World Cup.
Prediction
I don't see Portugal falling at the first hurdle, but regardless of their position, I'm not sure they'll get through the second round. A second-round tie with Brazil is in play, they could face Switzerland (who they beat and lost to in the Nations League earlier this year) or Serbia (who they drew with twice in the qualifying group). If they rely on Ronaldo too much, given his lack of form at the club level, they could be found wanting.
Favorite play: Portugal to reach the quarter-final - No (-106) 5 units
As mentioned, Portugal will not have an easy route to the quarter-finals even if they avoid Brazil in the second round. I like Uruguay's chances of winning the group and leaving the Portuguese facing the tournament favorites but even if they avoid that, I'm not convinced they'll be able to reach the final eight.
South Korea Preview, Odds, Best Bet, and Predictions
Preview
South Korea is by far the most successful Asian nation when it comes to the World Cup. This will be their 11th tournament and 10th consecutive one. They are also the only Asian country to have reached a semi-final, which they achieved in 2002 as joint hosts (with Japan). They have only made it out of the group stage once since 2002 and that was back in 2010, but they famously beat defending champions Germany 2-0 at the last World Cup, which saw the Germans eliminated alongside South Korea in round one.
They followed that up by reaching the quarter-finals of the AFC Asian Cup in 2019, losing to eventual winners Qatar and they cruised through the World Cup qualifying, losing just one of their 16 games. They had an injury scare when star forward Son Heung-min suffered a fractured eye socket, but he's set to play wearing a protective mask and will have to burden a lot of his nation's expectations on his shoulders.
Prediction
South Korea has the capability of making it through the group and despite only being the third-highest-ranked Asian nation (according to FIFA), they look like the best option to reach the second round. But I still think they exit at the group stage. If they are over-reliant on Son to carry their attacking threat, his form at the club level suggests they'll be disappointed.
Favorite play: South Korea total tournament goals - Over 2.5 (-118) 8 units
In Son, South Korea has a top forward capable of scoring and creating goals at the highest level. They've scored three or more goals at each of the last five World Cups, including the three they exited at the group stage, and whilst I don't like their chances of getting through the first round, scoring three goals is certainly achievable.
Uruguay Preview, Odds, Best Bet, and Predictions
Preview
Despite being overshadowed by South American rivals Brazil and Argentina, Uruguay shouldn't be overlooked. In the last three World Cups, they've reached the second round, quarter-finals, and semi-finals. They finished third in the South American qualifying for the World Cup, behind only Brazil and Argentina, and only exited the 2021 Copa America at the quarter-final stage on penalties (against Colombia). Their only defeat in regulation came against Argentina.
Uruguay's squad contains a huge amount of experience at the back and energy in midfield, and their strike force mixes youth and experience with a lot of goal-scoring threats. Since appointing Diego Alonso as their manager in January, Uruguay has won seven of their nine games, with their only defeat coming in a friendly against Iran. He was appointed on the back of four straight defeats so has turned their fortunes around and Uruguay goes to Qatar in good form.
Prediction
Uruguay is the biggest threat to Portugal for topping the group and likely avoiding a second-round clash with Brazil. And like Portugal, that's as far as I believe they go, but I certainly think they can cause Portugal a fright in the group stages.
Favorite play: Uruguay to win Group H (+200) 5 units
I don't see anyone in Group H reaching the quarter-finals so I'm not particularly high on anyone in this group. But I like Uruguay's chances of topping the group at these odds as I don't see Portugal being as strong as the sportsbook seems to think they are.
Good luck with those World Cup bets and remember to bet responsibly!
More 2022 World Cup Analysis
