World Cup Free Bets

To Win Group A
	Best Odds	Bookmaker	Free Bets
France	11/8		£200
Mexico	3/1		£20
Uruguay	7/2		£25
South Africa	13/2		£25

World Cup Group A betting preview

All four teams will fancy their chances of qualifying from Group A and we could see several tightly-fought contests, beginning with South Africa v Mexico which will announce the start of the 2010 World Cup. It’s the hosts who are the outsiders (7/1 Sky Bet) to win the section and they will have to improve on their 2009 Confederations Cup performances which saw Bafana Bafana lose to Spain and Brazil, while only managing a goalless draw with Iraq. Even so, Carlos Parreira’s team will have home advantage and they are 21/10 (totesport) to make it into the last sixteen, something that every host nation has managed in the history of the World Cup.

It’s France who are favourites (21/20 bet365) to win Group A and play the runner-up of Group B in the last sixteen. However, Les Bleus have a few things going against them as we approach the start of the tournament. Lassana Diarra is injured and we shouldn’t forget that they only made it to South Africa thanks to ‘that’ Thierry Henry handball against Republic of Ireland in the play-offs. You can get 5/2 with William Hill that Raymond Domenech’s team fail to qualify and bet365 offer 13/2 that the French finish bottom of the pile.

Their first match will be against Uruguay, a team that also needed a play-off to book their place in the World Cup finals. The South American team finished fifth in their qualifying section before beating Costa Rica in a two-legged affair and you can back them at 7/2 (Paddy Power) to finish top of Group A. They have a Europa League winner operating for them by the name of Diego Forlan and it’s possible that their altitude training could make them a good wager at 11/10 (William Hill) to finish in the top two places and subsequently qualify.

Then we have Mexico, a team tasked with facing South Africa in the opening game of the tournament. On paper, El Tri should be too strong for their opponents, making the 7/2 (Ladbrokes) about them winning the group an enticing prospect. Javier Aguirre’s team might have recently lost friendlies against England and Holland, although these are two of the World Cup favourites and it could be that the even money (Stan James) about the Mexicans qualifying for the last sixteen is one of the best bets of the group stages.

If you’re of the opinion that France might struggle and that South Africa are the weakest team, you can get Mexico – Uruguay at odds of 16/1 (bet365) on the Straight Forecast market. Alternatively, Mexico-France is on offer at 8/1 (bet365) or you can back the latter teams in a Dual Forecast at 21/10 (Paddy Power).