Woman’s World Cup Betting Odds
CANADA (The Spread) – Canadian soccer bettors held their collective breath for 90-plus minutes before Christine Sinclair tucked a penalty kick into the bottom left corner of the goal to give the host country a 1-0 win in their Women’s World Cup opener against China Saturday.
Canada needed a little field-home luck in Edmonton and got it when Chinese defender Rong Zhao delivered a forearm shiver to Adriana Leon while battling for the ball late into injury time. The foul set up the winning penalty kick and helped Canada avoid a draw in a flat opening match.
The Canadians, ranked eighth in the world, entered the tournament as the fourth overall favorite at +673. Canada was also -291 to top Group A and advance, ahead of the Netherlands (+556), China +556, and New Zealand (+1,300).
That slim victory over China could be chalked up to opening-game jitters as well as the pressure that comes with being the host nation. Canada controlled the tempo for most of the match but couldn’t produce quality chances. Of their 14 scoring attempts, four threatened to score. On the other side of the field, the Canadian defense didn’t allow much to make its way to goalkeeper Erin McLeod.
Canada’s next Group A challenge comes against New Zealand on June 11. Oddsmakers have pegged the hosts as -234 favorites with New Zealand priced as +562 underdogs and a draw paying +334. New Zealand lost its first game, 1-0, to the Netherlands and hasn’t recorded a victory in its last 10 World Cup matches.
The tournament favorite according to grizzlygambling.com, the United States (+281), doesn’t take the field until Monday when it faces Australia. Oddsmakers, who had the U.S. as a -286 favorite to win Group D – considered to be the “Group of Death”, have priced the USWNT at -523 for Monday with the Aussies coming back at +1,000 and the draw at +544.
The United States has plenty of big-game experience and motivation after finishing second in 2011. The Americans do have a tough challenge in Sweden (+1,300), which found its way to Group D. The Swedish have taken a draw and win against the States in their last two meetings, coming in 2013 and 2014 respectively. And their head coach is Pia Sundhage – the former head coach of the USWNT from 2008 to 2012, who led the U.S. to two Olympic gold medals and a runner-up finish in the 2011 World Cup.
Germany sits behind the United States in the outright odds, set at +329 to win the tournament. Much like their male counterparts, the German women’s national team packs a punch on offense. The 2003 and 2007 World Cup winners have dominated the women’s European Championship for the past decade and enter Canada 2015 with 64 goals in 10 undefeated qualifying games, allowing just four against in those matches.
Rounding out the notables are Brazil (+800), which is a -500 to win Group E and always has a chance with the exceptional striker Marta on the pitch, and defending champion Japan (+800), which is set at -1,000 to win Group C and won’t catch anyone off guard like it did in 2011.
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