Chris Bean
ENGLAND - 8/1 to win cup (
England qualified for the World Cup after finishing top of Group Six by narrowly edging out Poland by one point. In their qualifying campaign they won eight games, drew once and lost once, but the defeat was an embarrassing one at Windsor Park when Northern Ireland humbled Sven Goran Eriksson's men by 1-0. England have had two friendly games with South American opposition since then, namely Argentina and Uruguay and came thrillingly back from behind in both encounters.
Eriksson's has baffled and bemused Fleet Street with the selection of Theo Walcott. The Arsenal youngster has yet to play a competitive match for the Gunners since his January transfer window move, and has only scored a handful of goals in the Championship for Southampton. There is a massive spread on the odds for Walcott to be top scorer in the tournament but Stan James
It is touch and go if Wayne Rooney will make it to any of the games due to the metatarsal fracture which he suffered at Stamford Bridge. There has been mixed news on his road to recovery which explains the large spread on his top goal scorer odds. Total Bet has the best odds at present at 28/1. I recommend taking the odds now, as if he is named fit for the first match versus Paraguay these odds will be slashed in half. Other great odds are Michael Owen at 16/1 with Sky Bet and Frank Lampard at 66/1 with Bet365.
Taking into account England's form in their previous friendly fixtures plus their injury plague it is hard to assess how well they will do in this tournament. They still remain joint third favourites at 8/1, but a better bet would be for them to exit in the quarter-finals at odds of 9/1 with Bet365.
My tip - Rooney at 28/1 for top goal scorer with Total Bet. You will not get better odds.
SWEDEN - 40/1 to win cup (bet 365) 2/1 to win group (Total Bet)
Once again Sweden are drawn together with England for the second successive World Cup. Four years ago the two teams drew 1-1 in Japan. This will be the fourth meeting between the two teams since Eriksson took charge of England and Sweden have had the better hand beating England once and drawing with them twice.
Sweden have only had one friendly since their qualifying campaign. This was at Lansdowne Road where they were hammered 3-0 by Republic of Ireland. Sweden looked like eleven strangers on the pitch and were not their resolute self, so an early exit could well be a possibility. The odds of 9/4 (Paddy Power) for a departure in the group stages make this well worth a punt.
Even so and despite the Dublin performance they can easily things around and have a great World Cup and for them to make it to the last four you can get odds of 9/1 with Bet365.
This World Cup will be the last for Henrik Larsson and he would like to show the world for one last time that he is one of the best European strikers of recent years. The current odds for Larsson to be top scorer are 66/1 with Bet365. Larsson's team mate Ibrahimovic will probably get more starts however and is currently at 50/1 with UK Betting.
My tip - Sweden to get the ferry home after the group stage. 9/4 with Paddy Power.
PARAGUAY - 200/1 to win cup (bet 365) 7/1 to win group (UK Betting)
Paraguay got to this year's World Cup thanks to finishing fourth in the South American zone, edging out Uruguay who ended up getting knocked out by Australia in the South American/Oceania playoff.
The South American outfit will be looking to emulate their success of France 98 when they managed to make the second round. They were knocked out by the hosts via a golden goal by Laurent Blanc, the first ever golden goal in any football competition. For Paraguay to go one step further and reach the quarter-finals you can get odds of 9/1 with Sporting Odds. Paraguay are relying on one man to power them through the group stages and that is Valdez. The best price for him currently to be top scorer is 66/1 with Paddy Power.
My tip - 9/1 for Paraguay to make the quarter finals with Paddy Power.
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO - 1500/1 to win cup (Sporting Odds) 50/1 to win group (Total Bet).
Trinidad and Tobago shocked the world when they qualified via the North American/Asian Playoff. They beat Bahrain 1-0 over two legs and will be making their first ever appearance at a World Cup.
The team from the Caribbean are going to Germany just for the experience more than anything and are rank outsiders at 1500/1. However stranger things have happened. Their local rivals Costa Rica made their first appearance in 1990 and beat Scotland and Sweden along the way. For Trinidad & Tobago to emulate their rivals and reach the second round you can get odds of 10/1.
Former Aston Villa, Manchester United and Birmingham striker Dwight Yorke will be leading the way for the Islanders, and it is great for him to end his career at the world's premier tournament. And if you think he can play out of his skin and end up at the top of the scoring charts you can get odds of 250/1 with Bet And Win.
My tip - Trinidad and Tobago to do the unexpected. 10/1 to make the second round
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