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England may not be favourites for the win and few people actually expect Gareth Southgate’s side to come close to ending 52 years of hurt in Russia but a lot of focus will be placed on the Three Lions across a wide range of betting markets.
It’s not just the straight win bets that are up for grabs: All bookies will be looking for a slice of the action and we can therefore look forward to seeing more England specials than at any other tournament in history. Here is a rundown of the markets you can get involved in.
Firstly, let’s deal with the tournament-long bets and for those brave enough to back England for the outright win, SportingBet are among a number of bookies quoting odds of 18/1.
That may be a little speculative but there will be more interest from an English point of view in the Golden Boot betting for the tournament’s leading goal scorer. The overall market leader here is Lionel Messi at best odds of 10/1 with 188Bet and then we move through Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and Antoine Griezmann before we get to the fifth favourite – England’s very own Harry Kane.
Kane is available at a top price of 16/1 with William Hill and Betway to win the Golden Boot in 2018 and as Gary Lineker showed us back in 1986, England may not need to go deep into the tournament in order for their leading striker to claim that award. Lineker finished as leading goalscorer at Mexico 1986 despite his team being knocked out in the quarter final stage.
Those are the obvious England-related bets for this summer’s tournament in Russia but there are lots of additional options to take advantage of.
Harry Kane
Harry Kane is a contender for the Golden Boot and therefore would seem the most logical option to finish as England’s top goalscorer but the Spurs striker has endured a number of injuries this season and any further problems between now and the tournament could open up the team’s individual market.
Kane is the clear favourite to finish as England’s top scorer at Even Money with RedZoneSports while Jesse Lingard follows at 23/4. Marcus Rashford is on offer at 25/4 and Raheem Sterling will tempt a lot of punters at 27/4 after a prolific season with Manchester City.
Once again, those prices are with RedZoneSports and it’s worth remembering that after a disappointing Euro 2016, Harry Kane may not be the obvious choice that many are suggesting.
The smaller side markets aren’t embraced by all of the major bookmakers so it means that we have to hunt around for what could be some decent value. One of the markets in question predicts when Gareth Southgate’s men will exit the tournament – from the Group Stage right through to the final.
If, therefore, you feel that England won’t make it out of their group then you can currently get odds of 9/2. This English side haven’t shown great form in international friendlies so far in 2018 but while their section contains one strong side in Belgium, they should have the talent to overcome Tunisia and Panama so we won’t be pursuing this bet ourselves.
Once we reach the knockout stage much will naturally depend on England’s opponents but at this early point we can get 21/10 with GentingBet on Gareth Southgate’s men being knocked out in the Round of 16 or 11/5 on an elimination in the quarter final.
Moving deeper into the competition, Coral have 5/1 on the semi final and it’s over to GentingBet for 10/1 on England to be beaten finalists. As we mentioned, this will all depend on who England meet but there are lots of lower ranked countries likely to progress to the last 16 and we while we all remember Iceland at Euro 2016, Southgate’s men should be able to negotiate this round. The quarter final may be a much tougher assignment however and while this is a young and emerging England side, our preference is for them to exit the competition when they reach the last eight.
Some bookies also make it possible to bet on the number of points that England will earn in their Group. Remember, Southgate’s side are up against Belgium, Tunisia and Panama and obviously with three games to play there is a maximum of nine points available.
If you are fully behind the team and think they will reach those nine points with three straight wins, GentingBet will reward you with odds of 7/2. A few patriotic souls will probably go for that option but we prefer the 13//5 on offer, also from GentingBet, on a seven point finish. Belgium have very talented players, many of whom will be familiar to English fans and they are likely to include Premier League Stars Eden Hazard, Kevin de Bruyne, Jan Vertonghen and Romelu Lukaku.
A share of the points is the most likely outcome there but England really should win their remaining two games and that would give us our seven point total. Alternatively, some might look to England to draw two and win one leaving a five point accumulation which is available at a tempting 8/1 with GentingBet once again.
They haven’t mentioned specific names here but you can get general odds of 39/1 with LV BET on any member of the England squad to be sent back from Russia purely for a disciplinary issue. Those of us that remember Euro 96 and the infamous Dentist’s Chair incident will know that England players aren’t always impeccably behaved when they go abroad but it would surely take a severe breach of discipline for anyone to be put back on the plane. We’ll therefore avoid this bet ourselves but it could be a tempter for some.
Instead, at this early stage in proceedings we will just concentrate on the bets that we have already suggested. England have a young but talented squad who should make it out of their group and past the round of 16 but from there they could run into more experienced opposition so we expect their World Cup journey to end in the quarter finals.
Within that group, a draw against the Belgians would be a good result for both sides who may play a tight game with neither team prepared to lose it. England to take seven points from that group therefore rounds off our selection of England specials.
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