Who will win the FIFA World Cup? Betting favorites, odds and futures market for Qatar 2022

The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is less than a year away, but fans can already bet on countries to win it all, including many that have yet to qualify for the tournament. 

Thirteen nations have already clinched spots in the 32-team field, including host Qatar. That leaves 19 berths up for grabs over the next six months. The last two spots will be awarded in the single-game intercontinental playoffs that will be played in June 2022.

The futures market has five-time champion Brazil as the favorite alongside reigning champion France and Euro 2021 finalist England, which hasn't won a World Cup since 1966 but reached the semis in the last edition in 2018.

MORE: Which teams have qualified to the 2022 FIFA World Cup?

Of the 10 teams with the shortest odds to win the whole thing, only two have yet to qualify. And one of them will definitely not: Italy or Portugal.

World Cup playoff draw 

The two most decorated European teams in next year's World Cup qualifying playoffs were drawn in the same bracket, meaning Italy and Portugal cannot both be in Qatar 2022. If both win their opening playoff match on March 24, they will face off in Portugal on March 29 with a ticket to the World Cup on the line.

So it's no surprise that those teams saw their odds lengthen in the immediate aftermath of the draw conducted by FIFA on Nov. 26. At Sports Interaction, Italy's price nearly had a $2 move (11.54 to 13.26) while Portugal's odds shift was more dramatic, from 20.06 to 24.87. Even with that, they are still the eighth- and 10th-most likely teams to win the World Cup based on the odds.

MORE: Ronaldo's path to the 2022 World Cup

Fifty-two countries are listed on the World Cup futures market at Sports Interaction; the outright odds for 38 of them shrunk by varying degrees after the playoff draw while the odds for 10 remained unchanged. What catches the eye is Scotland's odds moving from 479 to 432: Though the Scots won't win the 2022 World Cup, it is perhaps a sign of their draw being perceived as favorable. They open at home against Ukraine and then on the road against Wales or Austria. 

Below is the futures table with updated odds available on Sports Interaction as of Nov. 26. Brazil's number should continue to shrink as the tournament gets closer, while France and England remain solid bets though both will enter the tournament with questions. The odds for Germany and Argentina (both are higher than 9-1) are the most attractive at this juncture, but the hype around them should grow in the coming months. 

MORE: Complete results of World Cup playoff draw

A reminder of how decimal odds work: In the case of Brazil at 6.70, a $1 winning bet would deliver $6.70, including the initial $1 stake.

2022 World Cup outright winner odds

Odds courtesy of Sports Interaction