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The 2022 World Cup kicks off with the first of 64 matches on Sunday, Nov. 20. The tournament will see 32 teams compete to win the 2022 World Cup. Here’s a look at who Benzinga employees are rooting for, how far they see the U.S. advancing, and who they think can win the tournament.
Benzinga Picks Their Favorites: While based in Detroit, Benzinga counts employees from around the world who work in various segments of the company’s business. With that said, a poll was sent out to Benzinga employees to see which teams they would be rooting for in the 2022 World Cup.
Here were some of the best responses:
Chris Katje, Staff Writer: “Rooting for the Netherlands, where my family is from and also rooting for the USA who are back in after missing the 2018 World Cup.”
Stefan Rohacek, Business Development Intern: “Rooting for the USA and Belgium for my family.”
Andrew Weiss, Head of B2C Subscriptions: “Rooting for USA and Belgium. From the USA and (Kevin) De Bruyne is my favorite player.
Michael Feehan, Social Media Team: “Rooting for Argentina because everyone I live with is Argentinian and Ireland didn’t qualify for reasons we won’t go into.”
Zoltan Suranyi, Director of Outreach and Exclusives: “Rooting for Brazil and USA because I have lots of friends from Brazil and they deserve to win another World Cup. I live in the US and I want the US team to do well.”
Jake Crandall, Customer Success: “USA. Been watching US National Team games since I was a kid. It hurt not making the World Cup in 2018.”
Ryan Faloona, Director of Customer Success: “USA. My home nation, and I love a good underdog story.”
Jose Rodrigo Safdiye, Director of Benzinga Crypto Newsdesk and Contributed Content: “Argentina, because its my country and we are the best team.”
Related Link: Exclusive: Darren Rovell On Sports Rights For World Cup, US Odds To Win And Ridiculous Bets On US To Win
Predictions for Team USA: The U.S. Men’s National Team has odds of +13000 to win the 2022 World Cup at DraftKings Inc DKNG. This ranks as the fifteenth-best odds of the 32 teams in the tournament.
The U.S. team is in Group B with England, Wales and Iran, which is considered to be the “group of death” by many. Team USA pays +500 to win the group, with England the favorite at -280. The U.S. team advancing out of the group pays at odds of -105, slightly ahead of Wales at +100. The top two teams advance to the elimination games.
Outside of the group stage, Team USA pays +400 to reach the quarterfinals and +1200 to reach the semifinals.
Of the Bezinga employees who answered, 100% see Team USA advancing from Group B. A total of 63% of those polled see the U.S. team losing in their first elimination game after the group stage. Reaching the quarterfinals is the answer given by 38% of those polled.
The ceiling given by respondents consisted of reaching the quarterfinals.
“I think we have a good shot to make it out of the group stages and into the quarterfinals. Have the potential to make it into the round of 16, but also have the second-youngest team in the Cup, so interested to see how we play on the biggest stage,” Crandall said.
Faloona like many polled sees Team USA hitting bumps in the road after the group stage.
“I think they can advance from the group stage, but unlikely to make a real run past that,” Faloona said.
Betting on the World Cup: Data from the American Gaming Association estimates that 20.5 million American adults will bet on the 2022 World Cup, representing 8% of the adult population in the country. The report estimates $1.8 billion to be wagered throughout the tournament.
A total of 31 states and Washington, D.C. offer legal sports betting of some sort heading into the 2022 World Cup, along with many countries around the world.
Of those polled, 75% said they plan on betting on the 2022 World Cup.
Watching the World Cup: The 2022 World Cup will be broadcast by Fox Corporation FOXFOXA in the United States.
Of those polled, who were mainly soccer fans, 100% said they would be watching at least some World Cup games. The majority (75%) said they would be watching as many of the World Cup games as possible. Around 25% of those polled said they were mainly going to watch games of their favorite teams.
2022 World Cup Winner Predictions: Current odds at DraftKings show the following as the favorites to win the 2022 World Cup:
- Brazil: +350
- Argentina: +500
- France: +700
- Spain: +850
- England: +900
- Germany: +1000
- Netherlands: +1100
Here are who Benzinga employees picked to win the 2022 World Cup:
- Katje: Argentina
- Rohacek: Argentina
- Weiss: Belgium
- Feehan: Argentina
- Suranyi: Brazil
- Crandall: Brazil or Germany
- Faloona: Brazil or Spain
- Safdiye: Argentina
Of those who selected a winner, Argentina was the clear favorite, appearing in 50% of the answers. Brazil was the next highest selection at 38% of answers, including those who picked two potential winners.
Outside of the top seven favorites, only Belgium was selected in the responses. Belgium has odds of +1800 to win the 2022 World Cup.
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Image and article originally from www.benzinga.com. Read the original article here.