World Cup 2018 Preview

With the European football season fast drawing to a close, attention is beginning to turn to Russia and the 2018 World Cup.

The tournament will start on the 14th June and the event will end with the final on the 15th July. This will be the first World Cup held in Europe since the 2006 World Cup in Germany and it's the German's who come into the 2018 World Cup as defending champions.

Given the way Germany performed in the 2017 Confederations Cup with many of their first team players missing, it's little surprise to see them installed as the favourites to win the 2018 World Cup. However, the bookmakers are struggling to split Germany and Brazil, the latter of which enjoyed a tremendous qualifying campaign to reach Russia.

It's always tempting to back the favourites when betting on a big football tournament but the 2018 World Cup appears to be wide open and there are many nations who fancy their chances of lifting the trophy.

This provides a fantastic opportunity to take advantage of free bet offers which always come around for the big sporting events.

Many online bookmakers will run offers in the lead up to the World Cup and some of them will involve the option to claim a free bet. Usually, you are required to place a qualifying bet first and then the bookmaker will automatically add your free bet amount to your account.

Therefore, if you believe Brazil have a good chance of living up to their reputation as one of the favourites to lift the World Cup but also like the look of the talented Belgium squad, why not bet on both using a free bet?

With a team including Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku, Belgium have the ability to go far in the tournament. However, their recent tournament history suggests they could struggle and that makes betting on them a bit of risk.

So, instead of placing a bet on Belgium to win the 2018 World Cup, why not back one of the major favourites, like Brazil or Germany and place your free bet on Belgium? There are a host of countries at even better odds than Belgium which could cause a surprise in Russia.

Much of the recent talk in European football has been the lack of quality defending but Uruguay have two of the best central defenders in the business. Diego Godin and Jose Maria Gimenez have been in good form for Atletico Madrid towards the end of the season and with Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani up-front, they have a strong goal threat.

This makes Uruguay a tempting bet to win the 2018 World Cup and if you place your first bet wisely, you could pick up a free bet and use it on an outsider like Uruguay to win the tournament.

Football Grounds To Visit While You Still Can

All good things have to come to an end, and the same unfortunately has to be said for football stadiums too. This article looks at the grounds which are soon to host their last match, the stadiums whose days are numbered and where fans will be watching their football from next.