Germany, Brazil, France, Spain: they're the names we know well, and the names we expect to see at every major tournament. We even expect it will be one of these teams that lifts the trophy at the end of the summer.
Bookmakers have Germany and Brazil as favourites to win the tournament. But alongside the international giants are some smaller nations looking to make a name for themselves on the world stage… and hopefully cause a few upsets. Panama – 1000/1 They had to do it the hard way, but Panama have made it to their first ever World Cup. Finishing third in CONCACAF's Hex was their doorway to the tournament; and in the final round of games, they needed to beat Costa Rica at home and hope Trinidad & Tobago could do likewise in USA. And lo and behold, that is exactly what happened. Despite trailing Costa Rica for the majority of the game, Los Canaleros managed to fight back and secure a winner just two minutes from time.
Panama have a team that are willing to do battle. They may not have any stand-out superstars amongst their ranks, but together they are a solid unit who work hard for each other and, most importantly, believe in each other. They may be one to cause some upsets; especially since they've been placed in a group with England, who are more than capable of messing things up this summer. Saudi Arabia – 1000/1 The Saudis made it to Russia 2018 after a 1-0 win against Japan in their last AFC Round 3 Group B match.
This will be the fifth tournament for Saudi Arabia after a hiatus since their fourth tournament in 2006.
Having missed out on South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014, they fought through a tough group to finalise a place in the summer. They joined Iran, Japan and Korea Republic as the Asian representatives in Russia. They join hosts Russia in group A alongside Egypt and Uruguay. At 1000/1, bookies clearly don't think either of these teams are capable of doing much this summer, but you just never know what's going to happen in a World Cup. Either way, you can compare prices on a huge range of international football kits with FOOTY.COM, meaning you can prepare for Russia 2018 at a fraction of the usual price!
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