The path to the 2022 FIFA World Cup begins this week with Qualifiers from across Europe.
Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is likely to take the pitch for his nation, while number one ranked FIFA nation Belgium begins its road to the World Cup.
Joga bonito!
Portugal vs. Azerbaijan
March 25th 6:45am
Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to captain Portugal in its opening World Cup Qualifier against Azerbaijan on Thursday morning.
Ronaldo will be familiar with the surroundings as the game is set to take place at Juventus Stadium due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Azerbaijan face a huge task to cause an upset. It has already met Portugal on six occasions prior to Thursday and yielded only a draw as its best result.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers was the last time these two nations faced off and it resulted in a cushy 2-0 victory to Portugal.
Fast forward seven years and a similar result is expected here with Portugal likely to play in first or second gear.
The head to head markets yield no value and as such we are opting to side with the total goals scored for the match.
Prediction: Portugal 2 Azerbaijan 0
Suggested Bet: Total goals scored under 2.5 at $3.89
Turkey vs. Netherlands
March 25th 4:00am
Netherlands make the trek to Ataturk Stadium to play Turkey in its opening fixture of the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers.
The Dutch find themselves ranked 18 spots ahead of their Turkish opponents on the officials FIFA world rankings and on paper seem to have a squad loaded with much more talent.
Manchester United midfielder Donny Van de Beek (Netherlands) and Leicester central defender Caglar Soyuncu (Turkey) are both likely to start for their respective nations as is Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.
Barcelona midfield linchpin Frenkie De Jong is also a strong possibility to take the field with Memphis Depay set to join him.
Dutch head coach Frank De Boer recently guided his men to a 2-1 victory of Poland to bring winning form into this qualifier, while Turkey struggled in its 2-0 defeat at Puskas Arena to Hungary.
This should be a winning start In Group G for the Netherlands.
Prediction: Turkey 1 Netherlands 3
Suggested Bet: Netherlands head to head at $1.72
France vs. Ukraine
march 25th 6:45am
France begin its 2018 FIFA World Cup defence with a Group D 2022 World Cup Qualifier opener against Ukraine at the Stade De France.
The reigning world champion come into the game in good form after a strong 4-2 victory over Sweden in November 2020 at this very stadium.
Ukraine has only managed to defeat France once in the 10 head to head games played in the past and the most recent result was a nightmare.
Les Bleus pummelled Ukraine with a 7-1 victory after a first-half double from Chelsea forward Olivier Giroud as well as goals to PSG starlet Kylian Mbappe and Barcelona attacker Antoine Griezmann.
Didier Deschamps is expected to call upon Manchester United maestro Paul Pogba to pull the strings in midfield.
Would be shocked if this was anything but another big victory in favour of the French.
Too much class, too much talent and too much skill.
Prediction: France 4 Ukraine 0
Suggested Bet: France head to head at $1.27
Belgium vs. Wales
march 25th 6:45am
Belgium, the number one ranked FIFA nation in the world, go head to head against Wales on Thursday morning from Den Dreef.
Despite the supposed talent gulf on paper in favour of Belgium, Wales has acquitted itself brilliantly against its Group E opponents in recent fixtures.
The Welsh have managed to go undefeated in the last four outings against Belgium with the most famous of those victories being the 3-1 2016 Euro Quarter Final triumph.
There has been some interruption to the Dragons preparation with head coach Ryan Giggs unable to instruct his squad from the touchline due to an assault investigation against him.
Interim coach Rob Page has stepped into the role and has managed the Welsh to victories over Finland and Ireland.
Belgium are likely to draw upon champion midfield Kevin DeBruyne, who is in career best form, to quell the threat posed by Wales and impose his presence on the contest.
Even with the past results favouring the Welsh, Roberto Martinez will have his men geared up for a big showing given the plethora of talent he has at his disposal.
Prediction: Belgium 2 Wales 1
Suggested Bet: Belgium head to head at $1.30
