World Cup 2010 betting odds

The World Cup is now only 23 days away, and already the tension and excitement are rising. Germany were dealt a huge blow yesterday, as their influential captain Michael Ballack was ruled out of the competition. The English squad, who will be looking to emulate their cricketing counterparts, have flown out to Austria to begin their altitude training.

Spain will be looking to put years of wasted promise behind them at this tournament, as they have never before won the World Cup. The current European champions have won all but one of their matches since the beginning of 2008, and a worthy favourites for the tournament. They are currently best priced at 9/2 on Betfair (bet $20 to make $90 profit). One potential issue is the injury to Fernando Torres, but he is likely only to miss the opening two games, against Switzerland and Honduras.

Brazil are the most successful international team ever, and will certainly be a force to contend with in the knockout stages. They are coached by Dunga, who has turned them from a team big on style but with little substance to the brutally effective side we see today. Luis Fabiano is likely to lead the line for them in South Africa, and will be ably supported by the likes of Kaka and Maicon. Brazil are generally available at 5/1.

Next in the betting are England, who are best priced at 13/2 on Betfair. England were fantastic in the qualification campaign, winning all but one of their matches, and they will be looking to carry forward momentum from their friendlies against Mexico and Japan into their first match against the USA on the twelfth of June. Argentina are generally available at 15/2, while Holland look like reasonable value at 12/1.

The current champions Italy, who beat France on penalties four years ago, are at 14/1. Fans of the Italians will be concerned about their defence, which is usually rock-solid, but is composed largely of Juventus players, who have had a woeful season. Germany have drifted slightly following the news about Ballack, and can now be backed at 15/1. Although the traditional saying says that you can never rule Germany out, I think we can make an exception here, as it is hard to see who can fill the void left by their captain.

France have recently been rocked by the scandal surrounding Franck Ribery, and the beaten finalists of 2006 are now priced at 20/1 with Coral. Portugal are in the group of death along with the Ivory Coast and Brazil, and are priced at 28/1. The Ivory Coast are priced at 33/1.

Spain`s David Villa is favourite to be top goalscorer in the tournament, priced at 9/1, just ahead of Lionel Messi who is at 11/1. Luis Fabiano and Wayne Rooney are both at 12/1, and Fernando Torres is a 14/1 shot. Gonzalo Higuain is at 18/1, while his Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo is at 20/1. Robin van Persie looks good value at 28/1.

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