Rivaldo Exclusive World Cup Draw Reaction: No problems for tournament favourites

After the 2018 World Cup Draw was made in Russia this afternoon, Betfair Ambassador, and former World Cup winner Rivaldo gives us his exclusive thoughts on Brazil and some of the other fancied nations...

Interesting Draw for Title candidates

After the draw I was optimistic about the favourites' chances, it was an excellent draw for all the fancied nations and now they have about a 90% possibility to qualify from their groups.

The World Cup only starts for real after the group phase and only then we can check who are the true candidates with real ambitions to go all the way and claim the title.

The group stage won't define the way of the competition as the stern tests will only start at the last-16 stage, when the big clashes occur in decisive matches.

Brazil with an easy path into the last 16

It was a very nice draw for Brazil; being drawn against Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia gives Tite's team a great opportunity to qualify easily into the next round.

Serbia will be the danger team, they have some great qualities and I expect they will be the nation that joins Brazil in the knock-out phase.

Germany and Argentina steady into the next round

Many could argue that Germany and Argentina are in potentially tough groups but I expect both nations to qualify without problems as they are clearly favourites and have much more quality than their opponents.

Germany and the current world champions, have huge tradition at the competition, and are also playing well, so I don't envisage them having any problems in the group stage.

England and Spain can't complain either

Even without being part of Pot 1, England and Spain had nice draws too facing Belgium and Portugal respectively, and the other members of these two groups don't look capable of threatening any of these four European nations.

All four nations will be fancied to qualify from their groups and I don't expect problems for any of them.

Lucky Uruguay in Group A

Uruguay should be one of the happiest nations after the draw as they will face Russia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia in a very pleasant group in which they should qualify.

They got a bit lucky, being drawn against the host nation Russia who will also be hoping to enjoy a nice campaign in their own country.

To Win the 2018 World Cup - Betfair Exchange Odds:

- Germany 6.00
- Brazil 6.20
- France 7.00
- Spain 8.80
- Argentina 10.50
- Belgium 13.00
- England 19.00