England travels to South America, knowing that the pressure is tremendous, after a 48 years drought and a disappointing campaign at the previous World Cup. Their inability to score caused an untimely elimination and a similar outcome in Brazil would create an uproar back home. The stakes are high, but expectations are low and bookmakers don't credit the three Lions with a good chance to win the trophy.
The qualification campaign was salvaged in the final rounds, after a disappointingly slow start that saw England dropping points to Poland and Montenegro. At one point, it looked like Ukraine could win the group and send them to a humiliating playoff match, but this was not the case. At the World Cup 2014, England is expected to face highly motivated opponents and they have a difficult group against Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica.
Group stage and event prospects
It is only fair to say that Group D is the most balanced one at the World Cup 2014, with three teams having virtually the same chances to prevail. Costa Rica is clearly the underdog, but contrary to what many punters would expect, England has only the third chance to win the group. Bet365 prices them at odds of 3.25 while Italy and Uruguay are tied at 2.62 to win the group stage.
Roy Hodgson knows that England is not favorite to win the group, but at the same time is fully aware of the fact that if they are eliminated at this stage, the repercussions will be severe. Few fans expect the national team to make a deep run, but they would still find such an early elimination unacceptable and Roy could well be sacked.
The coach needs to play his cards as well as he can and avoid another meltdown, by dropping points to weaker teams. In this case, the match against Costa Rica is the one that all three competitors must win, with the team to win a second match, being virtually qualified to the next stage. Italy is expected to play more aggressively than it did at previous world cups, but Uruguay will definitely be the most offensive team. Hodgson's defense must hold against the South Americans if England is to move further.
Key players for England at the World Cup
England is bringing a bunch of young and promising players at the World Cup, but this is not the time or the place to make experiments. Roy will be relying mostly on these veterans and the player that he expects to shine in Brazil is Wayne Rooney. The odds for him to be the most prolific scorer at the World Cup 2014 are 51 to 1, mostly due to the fact that England is not expected to make a deep run.
Scoring many goals against Italy and Uruguay in the group stage is also unlikely, not to mention that Costa Rica is playing a solid defensive game. Despite the fact that the odds are attractive for Rooney to be the top scorer in Brazil, there is no argument in favor of making such a bet. Walcott and Welbeck are not among the favorites either, but at 67 to 1, Sturridge could still be a better choice than Wayne Rooney.
The bottom line
England won the World Cup just once back in 1966 and Bet365 will give odds of 34 to 1 to anyone willing to back the three Lions. None but the most optimistic English fans can take these odds and actually expect to win. Regular punters would be wise to bet at one match at the time, because England will be given decent odds during the group stage and even better ones if they qualify.
