Weekend Review: Bookies on top as favourites flounder in the early stages of World Cup

The opening weekend of the 2026 World Cup went the way of the layers, as a slew of favourites fluffed their lines and busted plenty of punters’ accumulators in the process.

On Saturday evening, Brazil (4/6) made a nervous start to their Group C encounter with 2025 Africa Cup of Nations champions Morocco, conceding a 21st-minute strike by forward Ismael Saibari.

Brazil’s Vinicius Junior unleashed a thunderous shot to equalise around 10 minutes later, but Carlo Ancelotti’s side couldn’t push on from there and the match ended 1-1 in front of nearly 81,000 fans at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands (10/11) and Japan produced an entertaining second half after a soporific first 45 minutes at Dallas Stadium on Sunday evening, with the match finishing 2-2 after a late equaliser from the Samurai Blue.

Earlier, Germany (1/33) ran riot against Curaçao, racking up seven goals in a 7-1 victory against the 82nd-ranked team in the world.

Arsenal’s Kai Havertz netted twice, while Nico Schlotterbeck, Jamal Musiala, Nathaniel Brown and Deniz Undav all got on the scoresheet.

Yet Die Mannschaft did suffer a slight scare when Curaçao’s Livano Comenencia scored on 21 minutes to make it 1-1, sending the tiny Caribbean nation’s fans into delirium.

Switzerland (1/5) went into their opening Group B clash as some people’s ‘dark horses’ for the tournament, though they were punished for a lacklustre performance with a 1-1 draw against lowly Qatar.

The Emirate earned their first ever point at a World Cup thanks to an own goal in injury time.

In-play favourite-backers on the Betfair Exchange were left cursing their luck, with around £3.5m matched on the Swiss at 1.06 (1/16) or shorter as Qatar searched for the equaliser with time running out.

Elsewhere, Scotland (1/2) recorded their first World Cup victory since 1990 with a 1-0 win over Haiti, while hosts Mexico (2/5) beat South Africa 2-0 in a match that saw three players sent off, and the USA (19/20) brushed aside Paraguay with an impressive 4-1 win.

The final host nation, Canada (4/5), played out a 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto.

Australia (4/1) upset the odds on their way to beating Turkey 2-0, South Korea (13/8) edged out Czechia 2-1 and Ivory Coast (5/2) found the winner in the 90th minute to bag all three points against Ecuador in Group E.

Finally, Sweden (17/20) caught the eye by coasting to a 5-1 victory against Tunisia.

Yasin Ayari, Viktor Gyokeres, Alexander Isak and Mattias Svanberg all found the back of the net for a side chalked up at 150/1 to lift the World Cup before the tournament kicked off.  

Ali Gill of FDJ United summed up the early stages as a “good start” and that margin over the first four days has been “strong”.

He continued: “A draw in the first blockbuster game, between Brazil and Morocco, was always going to be good for the book, whilst a last-gasp equaliser from Qatar in their match against Switzerland took a popular short-price acca of the day down at the first leg.

“A win for Australia over the well fancied Turkey was “another great result,” Gill noted.   

“Punters weren’t without cheer though, as hosts USA got off to a strong start by beating Paraguay 4-1 in an expensive game for us, whilst Mexico and South Korea also helped punters get some back with their respective wins.”

Brian O’Keeffe, spokesperson for BOYLE Sports, described it as “intriguing” start to the tournament with “plenty of goals, cards and shock results”.

“Brazil were held against an impressive Morocco side, while the Netherlands and Japan played out an entertaining draw on Sunday evening.

“USA made a real statement with a thumping 4-1 win over Paraguay, while Qatar’s late equaliser against Switzerland provided the shock moment of the tournament so far.”

Tonight, Spain (1/10) take on Cape Verde, followed by Belgium (8/13) versus Egypt, while Saudi Arabia go up against Uruguay (4/9).

England (7/10) get their campaign started when the Three Lions face Croatia on Wednesday in Arlington, Texas.