There are now just 25 days to go before the global football extravaganza kicks off in Brazil. Squads have been announced and everyone has started making their predictions for the tournament. As the competition gets closer and the betting markets get busy, it will get harder and harder to find decent value bets, so now is the time to do your homework and seek out the smart betting opportunities.
Over the past couple of weeks we have revealed some early betting tips and this is the final part of our World Cup betting guide as we look at the remaining teams from groups H-Z.
We start with Honduras and at first glance, they do not seem like an attractive betting proposition. They scraped through their qualifying campaign under Colombian Coach Luis Fernando Suarez and have never won a game at a World Cup tournament. However, they can be backed at 13/5 with Ladbrokes to finish on zero points in Group E and that represents great value.
Iran are in a tough Group F alongside Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Nigeria but many experts see them as one of the dark horses for the tournament. They are coached by former Manchester United number two Carlos Queiroz and have lost just four out of their last 30 competitive matches. At 7/1 with Unibet, they are a great value to qualify from their group.
Four-time World Cup Champions Italy eased through qualifying but have been drawn in a tricky Group D with England, Uruguay and Costa Rica. They are favourites to win the group and can be backed at 7/4 with Paddy Power to do so. All eyes will be on controversial striker Mario Balotelli this summer and the 23-year-old can be backed at 15/8 with Ladbrokes to top the Italian scoring charts.
Unbeaten qualifiers Ivory Coast will be making their third World Cup appearance. They will face a tough job getting out of Group C so the evens price on offer does not look appealing. For better value, take the 6/1 on offer from BetVictor for Salomon Kalou to lead the scoring for the Ivoirians. The Lille forward is in great form for club and country and was top scorer during qualifying.

Joint 2002 hosts Japan will be making their fifth appearance at the World Cup finals and have previously reached the last 16 on two occasions. Unfortunately, there are no eye-catching betting opportunities for the Japanese team.

The Mexicans had an uncomfortable route to Brazil after failing qualify automatically from their CONCACAF group. They eventually made the play-offs courtesy of a last gasp goal from the USA against Panama and booked their place in Brazil after defeating New Zealand. Miguel Herrera was put in charge back in October to try and bring some much-needed stability to the team but they will struggle this summer. Back them at 5/6 with BetVictor to go out at the group stage.

The Netherlands will face reigning champions Spain in Group B as well as Chile and Australia. The Dutch were unbeaten in qualifying under Coach Louis van Gaal and 70% of their matches had more than 2.5 goals. They managed an impressive average of 3.4 goals per game while conceding an average of just 0.5. They should get through their group without any trouble and they are worth a small bet at 11/1 with Coral to go out at the semi-final stage.

The Nigerian team had a good qualifying campaign and also won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations under Coach Stephen Keshi. They now play a more defensive style and are less attractive to watch than Nigerian teams of the past. They are one of three teams that will be hoping to snatch second place behind Argentina in Group F, the others being Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran. This is a tough group to call but if you fancy Nigeria to pull through, they can be backed at 11/4 with Ladbrokes to go out in the second round.

Portugal had to qualify for Brazil the hard way by facing Sweden in the play-offs. Four goals from Christiano Ronaldo ensured that they beat the Swedes to seal their place in Brazil. They will be part of a three horse race with the USA and Ghana to finish second in Group G behind favourites Germany. A high FIFA ranking may be the reason for their overall poor value but a small bet at 13/8 for them not to qualify from the group is tempting.

It was a smooth qualifying campaign for Russia who have looked very solid under former England boss Fabio Capello. They should progress from Group H and can be backed at 6/4 with Paddy Power to finish second behind Belgium ahead of Algeria and South Korea. The same bookies are also offering 6/1 for young Dynamo Moscow striker Aleksandr Kokorin to top the Russian scoring charts. This is great value for the in-form striker who bagged four goals in just seven starts during qualifying.

Group H will be a very tough test for South Korea who finished second behind Iran in Group A of the Asian qualifying rounds. They will be battling for third place in the group alongside Algeria and can be backed at 6/11 to be eliminated at the first hurdle.

The reigning world champions Spain will be one of the favourites to prevail in Brazil as they look to retain their crown. They cruised through qualifying and have arguably their strongest ever squad going into this tournament. They can be backed at 10/3 to reach the final with BWIN and several bookmakers are offering a very generous 7/1 for them to lift the trophy. Pedro was on top form in qualifying and can be backed at 9/1 with BetVictor to lead the Spanish scoring charge.

After topping Group E of the UEFA qualifying, Ottmar Hitzfeld‘s Switzerland will face France, Ecuador and Honduras in Group E of the World Cup finals. The Swiss were unbeaten in qualifying and kept a clean sheet in 70% of their matches. The team is packed full of talented players that are very comfortable on the ball and youngster Josip Drmić should provide the attacking focal point that was sometimes lacking during qualifying. At 7/2, they are a good bet to pip France to first place in the group.

It was a tough CONMEBOL qualifying campaign for Oscar Tabarez’s Uruguay team and they only just scraped into the play-offs where they eventually breezed past Jordan. They finished fourth at the last World Cup but have had some poor spells of form since then. Much of this has been put down to exhaustion and injuries due to their heavy schedule but with players like Luis Suarez and Edison Cavani in their ranks, they still remain many people’s tip this summer. They can be backed at a reasonable 9/5 to finish second in Group D.

The USA finished top of their group in the CONCACAF qualification and booked an automatic place at this summer’s finals. This will be the Americans 10th World Cup appearance. They have been drawn in a difficult Group G alongside Germany, Portugal and Ghana and are favourites to finish last with some bookies. If you fancy Jurgen Klinsmann’s team to overhaul Portugal and Ghana and grab second place behind Germany, you can back them at 16/5 with Ladbrokes to qualify.