2018 World Cup Betting Preview: Brazil vs Switzerland

Brazil showed their commitment to winning their sixth World Cup back in CONMEBOL qualification, as they were the very first team to qualify for the tournament (besides the host nation, Russia), when they beat Paraguay 3-0 with goals from Marcelo, Neymar and Phillipe Coutinho. They face Switzerland in their first Group E contest on Sunday against a Swiss side that needed a playoff win over Northern Ireland, in which Switzerland advanced in a two-leg aggregate by a 1-0 score, to qualify for the World Cup. The Swiss have now qualified for four consecutive World Cups. Can Switzerland drag Brazil into a draw or pull off the upset? Or will Brazil continue their dominant play? Take a look at our World Cup betting preview of this Group E action.

2018 World Cup Betting Preview: Brazil vs Switzerland

When: Sunday, June 17, 2018, 2:00pm ET Where: Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don, Russia TV: FS1 Radio: None Live Stream: fuboTV 2018 World Cup Odds: Brazil -275 / Draw +418 / Switzerland +915 / O/U 3

Why should you bet on Brazil?

Brazil is the most storied team in the World Cup; they are the only team that has appeared in every edition, going back to 1930. They have won a 12-match unbeaten streak in group play, winning ten and drawing two; their last group play loss ame in an upset setback against Norway in 1998. Brazil has won their group in every cup since 1982 and have made it into the knockout round every year since 1966. They have not lost a group play opener since 1934, when they fell to Spain. So this is definitely the titan of the World Cup, both historically and recently as far as group play goes. The Brazilian side has plenty of reason to look for redemption here, of course. They entered a semifinal match against Germany in the 2014 World Cup, on their own home soil, and took a disastrous 7-1 thrashing. They were so demoralized that they went out and lost the third-place game to The Netherlands as well. They enter now on an 11-match unbeaten streak, most recently routing Austria in a friendly, 3-0. The offense runs through Neymar (55 goals in 85 international appearances), and this is a team with elite talent on the back line and in the midfield as well.

Why should you bet on Switzerland?

Switzerland is not a team that enters the World Cup with wide eyes, by any means. They won their group in 2006, and they have won their opening match in group play in each of the last two years, defeating Spain in 2010 and Ecuador in 2014. They won nine of ten matches in UEFA qualification, with their lone loss coming at Portugal. Their offense runs through Xherdan Shaqiri, who has either scored or assisted in five of Switzerland’s last six goals in competition. He scored a hat trick against Honduras in group play in 2014. So this is a team that is not afraid of the top competition in the world and can find the back of the net. Yann Sommer is the goalkeeper for the Swiss, who have a solid defense ahead of him in Ricardo Rodriguez, Johan Djourou and Stephan Lichtsteiner. Granit Xhaka joins Shaqiri in the midfield, and Haris Seferovic is the striker. These two teams met in a 2013 friendly, and the Swiss actually won by a 1-0 score. If you like the Swiss, you see the Brazilians entering this game perhaps a bit too casually, while the Swiss take advantage as they have in World Cups past.

Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction

After Brazil, it will be a fight among Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia to take the second seed out of Group E into the knockout round. Of the three teams, I think Switzerland has the best chance to pull off a draw and grab a valuable point out of their match with Brazil. I see the Swiss defense doing enough to frustrate the Brazilians, and the Swiss attack generating a goal to settle a 1-1 draw.