Argentina Clear Favourite To Win Group
Published on May 31st, 2014 1:09 pm ESTWe are continuing our breakdown of the World Cup groups today with a look at Group F.
Most of the Groups in the World Cup feature two strong teams, one middling team and a weaker country. Group F, however, features one very strong team, one weak team and two clubs who are considered extreme long shots to win the tournament.
Here are the teams that make up Group F:
Argentina
Bosnia
Nigeria
Iran
Let's take a look at how each of the four teams qualified for the tournament:
Argentina - finished atop CONMEBOL qualifying bracket, earned direct position
Bosnia - won Group G of UEFA qualifying, earned direct position
Nigeria - won one of five CAF spots by defeating Ethiopia
Iran - finished atop Group A of AFC qualifying, earned direct position
Here are the odds to win the Group:
Argentina, 1.17
Bosnia, 8.00
Nigeria, 9.00
Iran, 51.00
Argentina is considered by the bookmakers to have the second best odds of winning the tournament behind host nation Brazil. As of this moment, Argentina is listed at 9/2 to win the World Cup, while Brazil is listed at 3/1.
The big question is - who will be the second team to qualify from the group? Let's look at those odds:
Argentina, 1.03
Bosnia, 1.67
Nigeria, 2.25
Iran, 6.00
As you can see, Argentina is almost certain to qualify while Bosnia are being given the next best odds. Nigeria, though, is just slightly worse than even money to move through to the next round, which means that Bosnia will need to remain vigilant or they could find themselves finishing in third place.
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The first match in this group takes place on June 15th when Argentina plays against Bosnia. The crucial match of this group, however, will take place on June 21st when Nigeria goes up against Bosnia. The winner of this match will almost certainly move on to the next round of play.
