Now that the first phase of the tournament is completed, we are dedicating a blog post to give a review on each group and how did the action unfold and a look into the upcoming knockout stage. Teams have surprised us in a positive or negative way, and we are going to give you a good overview of what went down in the group stages. Join us as LV BET continues to be the partner during this FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
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Group E Review
Group E represented a surprise package that few punters could foresee. This group featured Japan, Spain, Germany and Costa Rica — four teams that each brought something different to the equation. Japan and Spain qualified with six and four points, respectively. The shocker against Japan meant that Germany’s fate was sealed, as was Costa Rica, who battled well if not for the flat 7-0 loss to Spain in the first fixture.
Japan
An inertia-induced 1-0 loss to Costa Rica was cushioned by two superb victories against Germany and Spain — both being comebacks of the highest order. Japan is the unlikely winner of Group E after proving to the world that patience and decisive attacking maneuvers can truly defy the odds. Up next for the Japanese nation is Croatia.
Japan to beat Croatia is priced at 28/9 (4.1).
The truth is that Japan has toppled far greater squads than that of Croatia, but if the 1-0 defeat to Costa Rica is to serve a purpose, Hajime Moriyasu should make his team wary for any inopportune slip-ups against the Croatians.
We’re pricing there to be goals in both halves at 51/50 (2.02), whereas Japan to win 1-0 is priced at 25/4 (7.25).
Spain
Scoring nine goals in three games isn’t as impressive if you score seven of them in one game. Had Spain saved some of those goals for the two remaining fixtures against a solid Germany side and an unrelenting Japan, we would be talking about a comfortable qualification to the knockout stages. Alas, scraping by has worked out fine for Spain thus far, but will it suffice against Morocco?
Both Spain and Morocco to score is at 13/10 (2.3).
Luis Enrique foresaw a better ending to the group stage, but now that his team is through to the round of 16, he’ll be hoping that Alvaro Morata and his compatriots can fire Spain to a convincing win against Morocco.
Alvaro Morata to score anytime is listed at 14/9 (2.55), while Dani Olmo to score anytime is priced at 14/5 (3.80).
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*Odds subject to change. Odds correct at time of publishing