Strangest Bets at the 2022 World Cup

Anything can happen at the World Cup. Remember Germany silencing the Estadio Mineirao by thumping Brazil 7-1 in 2014? Or what about Mwepu Ilunga bizarrely sprinting from the wall to boot away a free kick before Brazil could take it in 1974? Football is a mad game, which is why fans and bettors love it so much.

Sometimes that craziness and betting cross over perfectly, allowing you to place some strange bets. These can be an exciting way to spice up your world cup betting experience, providing peculiar factors to look out for when watching and enjoying World Cup games. While many of the strangest bets are yet to be launched, our team at Playright has found some of the weirdest bets you can place on the 2022 World Cup and listed them below.

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Nov 06 2022

Where to Bet on the 2022 World Cup

If you’re looking for the best experience for wagering on the Qatar World Cup, you’ve come to the right place. The bookmakers highlighted on this page give you access to hundreds of football betting markets, including dozens of betting lines for England games.

So, what are you waiting for? To add even more excitement to 2022’s World Cup, check out our recommended football betting sites and register using the links on this page to grab yourself a lucrative welcome bonus.

FIFA Most Entertaining Team Award Winner (William Hill)

Every World Cup, FIFA opens a public poll on which team has entertained fans the most. Winners can be teams of superstars who play a mesmerizing brand of football, like Brazil in 1994 or come-back king underdogs who massively overperform expectations, like South Korea in 2002. Try and catch the most entertaining teams to predict who will win!

When on Fifa’s most Entertaining Team, punters should be careful, as the best teams on paper often don’t play the most exciting football. For example, France is a favourite to win the 2022 World Cup, with two Ballon D’or contenders in Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema. However, their manager, Didier Deschamps, is known (and often criticized) for a defensive, passive style of football unlikely to win awards for entertainment.

Meanwhile, although AFCON winners Senegal are 100/1 outsiders for the world cup, manager Aliou Cisse utilizes players like Édouard Mendy and Sadio Mane to play a high-pressing brand of football far more likely to entertain viewers.

Cristiano Ronaldo To Take His Shirt Off (Unibet)

Siuuuuuu! We’ve all witnessed Cristiano Ronaldo’s exuberant celebrations. Plus, with a hunger for revenge after a poor club season and elimination in the group stage of the UEFA Euros 2021, we could be in store for more at the 2022 World Cup.

Whether it’s his celebration of his last-minute winner against Juventus in the Champions League, or his goal against Northern Island to crown him as the greatest international goal scorer of all time, Ronaldo enjoys celebrating with his shirt off. In the course of his career, he’s picked up more yellow cards for shirt-off celebrations than any other player in history. And, if Portugal has any success in this year’s World Cup, there’s a good chance there’s still more to come.

Of course, Portugal is in a tough group, with Ghana, South Korea, and Uruguay to contend with. Moreover, the team comes into the World Cup off a series of major tournament flops since their Euros victory in 2016. Could this mean the now 37-year-old Ronaldo is unlikely to score? Or does it provide ample opportunity for the kind of wild last-minute victories that have seen Ronaldo take his shirt off so many times before? The decision is up to you, with this fascinating strange bet offered by Unibet in 2018 and likely to return in time for the 2022 World Cup.

Harry Kane to Score One Goal in Every Group Stage Match (William Hill)

This strange bet would be particularly impressive, even if Harry Kane is a goalscoring machine. Rather than scoring three goals across the three Group Stage matches, Kane would need to score at least one in each game for you to win this wager. Kane scored five goals in the Group Stages at the 2018 World Cup, but failed to register in the final match, a 1-0 loss to Belgium.

Offered as a bet by William Hill in 2018, scoring one goal in each Group Stage game would be enough for Kane to match Wayne Rooney’s goal record for England, so there is extra motivation. Additionally, this year there are no major teams in England’s group, unlike in the 2018 World Cup, where the Three Lions had to face Belgium.

Harry Maguire to be Sent Off (Unibet)

Harry Maguire has had a tough run of form with Manchester United, but his place in the England squad seems to be certain. Gareth Southgate points to the fact Maguire has never let England down before. Well, if you wager on this market, you’ll be betting on Maguire breaking that streak in a major way. If you place this wager, Maguire needs to be sent off in any game for you to make a profit. Still, Maguire has been sent off for England before – in a Nations League defeat against Denmark in 2020.

Total Penalties Missed (Bet365)

England fans may not want to be reminded of missed penalties after heartbreaks in Euro 2020 and Euro 1996, but there is something football fans love about a player missing from the spot. This is an over/under bet, so you have to predict whether there will be more or fewer penalties than a total set by the betting site. Previously available at sportsbooks like bet365, saved penalties also count as missed penalties, and with penalty-saving specialists like Jordan Pickford, Thibaut Courtois, and Alisson strapping on the gloves, this could be an exciting market.

Total Penalties are almost impossible to predict before the World Cup begins, so consider this bet as just a bit of fun. Remember, penalties in shootouts do not count towards this total.

Betting on England at the World Cup

As you can see, there are hundreds of different bets for you to explore and have fun with when the 2022 World Cup begins this November. So, to up the ante at the best bookmakers around, check out our top sportsbook reviews to find your new favourite site and start wagering. Simply click on one of our links, register, and wager on England today!

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Written by: playright team
Nov 06 2022
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