Italy, Uruguay Favourites To Win Group
Published on May 5th, 2014 2:13 pm ESTGroup D is easily one of the most interesting groups of the 2014 World Cup as it features three strong teams and one very weak one.
Here are the four teams that make up Group D:
Italy
Uruguay
England
Costa Rica
Of the four teams, Italy has the slight advantage to win the group as you can see from the odds below:
Odds to Win Group
Italy, 2.37
Uruguay, 2.75
England, 3.25
Costa Rica, 67.00
Is there a possibility that England will be unable to advance from this group? The oddsmakers consider this a distinct possibility, as both Uruguay and Italy have better odds of winning the group.
Let's take a look at the odds to qualify from the group:
Italy, 1.33
Uruguay, 1.44
England, 1.67
Costa Rica, 13.00
Finally, the straight forecast odds, which gives up the two teams (by final rank) that will qualify from the group:
Italy/England, 4.50
Italy/Uruguay, 4.50
Uruguay/Italy, 5.00
England/Italy, 5.50
Uruguay/England, 6.50
England/Uruguay, 7.00
Italy/Costa Rica, 67.00
England/Costa Rica, 81.00
Uruguay/Costa Rica, 81.00
Costa Rica/England, 151.00
Costa Rica/Italy, 151.00
Costa Rica/Uruguay, 151.00
As you can see, the odds of Italy/England and Italy/Uruguay advancing are identical. The oddsmakers are pretty sure of one thing - Italy will likely advance, but Uruguay and England are virtual coin flips.
England has had a tendency to disappoint their fans in World Cup action over the past couple of decades. Will they finally be able to pull themselves together and outperform expectations, or are their fans in for another bitter disappointment?
