The World Cup in Brazil is now less than 50 days away and now is a good time to start looking for some early betting opportunities. Over the next couple of weeks we will take a look at the best betting options for various team and the early prices available.

Teams A-C

Algeria are massive outsiders for the World Cup and will not be attracting must interest from punters but Sporting CP striker Islam Slimani scored five goals in five starts during qualifying and can currently be backed at 5/1 with BetVictor to top the scoring for the Algerians.

Unlike Algeria, Belgium have been attracting a lot of interest in the markets and have gone from dark horses to genuine contenders over the last couple of months. They are now fifth favourites to win the tournament but can be backed at 11/8 with Betfair to reach at least the quarter-finals, or 4/1 with Coral to be eliminated at the same stage.

Bosnia and Herzegovina have been tipped by many to finish second in Group F behind Argentina but they will have to fight off an impressive Iranian team and the determined Nigerians for that coveted qualification spot. A better option is to back Edin Dzeko to top the Bosnian scoring charts at 13/8 with BetVictor.

You won’t get great value on Brazil unless you fancy them to make an early exit but you should back them in the over 2.5 goals market as 80% of their Confederations Cup games produced this result. They have also developed a habit of scoring in the final 15 minutes of each half.

Cameroon do not stand much chance of repeating their heroics of 1990 and are likely to make an early exit at the group stage. However, this could be a breakthrough tournament for young Lorient striker Vincent Aboubakar and you can back him at 13/2 with Unibet to top the scoring for the Indomitable Lions.

Chile have been drawn in a tough group with Spain and the Netherlands, so qualifying is going to be hard, but they are another team worth backing in the over 2.5 goal betting market. Their qualifying matches averaged 3.37 goals per game.

Colombia have a great chance of winning their group and are well priced at 11/8 with Paddy Power to reach the quarter-finals. With Radamel Falcao facing a race against time to be fit, why not take a chance on in-form Sevilla striker Carlos Bacca to be their top scorer at 8/1 with BetVictor.

Costa Rica will do well to pick up any points from their group games against Italy, England and Uruguay so why not take the 13/8 on offer from BetVictor for them to finish on zero points.

The poor recent form of Mexico will give Croatia a great chance of progressing from Group A as runners-up to hosts Brazil. A poor finish to their qualifying campaign caused their price to tumble but they now have legendary former player Niko Kovac at the helm and you can back them to qualify at 13/10 with Ladbrokes.

Part 2 to follow