FIFA 2022 World Cup: Protest Kits, Sobering Tents and Football Fans Unable to Watch Games On TV in Qatar
The World Cup roadshow moves into uncharted territory in 2022. The tournament has been played over the summer ever since its creation back in 1930, but this year’s event will take place in November and December over fears for player safety during the peak of the heat in Qatar.
This also means that the World Cup will take place slap bang in the middle of the European club football calendar, which presents some difficulties for players and fans alike. Still, nonetheless, the event is sure to be a spectacular feast of football.
The level of World Cup betting is sure to be high, as it is in every tournament, and to help you make the most of your sports betting journey, we will be digging deeper into each and every group to give you a heads up ahead of any wagers you have lined up.
So we come to Group H, which looks like a delicious one, to say the least.
Here we’ll see veteran giants such as Luis Suarez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani battle it out to secure safe passage to the last 16, as well as the potential upsets that South Korea and Ghana may well be able to contrive.
The betting options for this group are pretty huge, and on the whole, an outright bet on Man United forward Ronaldo securing a Golden Boot or even guiding his Portuguese side to World Cup glory are both clearly long shots but ones that may be worth a flutter.
Portugal and Uruguay have similar squads in the sense that both are overloaded with veteran talents. However, the European side has a production line of upcoming talents that are impressing in leagues all over the continent.
Group H
Portugal
Uruguay
South Korea
Ghana
24th November
24th November
28th November
28th November
1st December
1st December
Uruguay vs South Korea
Portugal vs Ghana
South Korea vs Ghan
Portugal vs Uruguay
Ghana vs Uruguay
South Korea vs Portugal
1 pm
4 pm
1 pm
7 pm
3 pm
3 pm
Team Guides
Portugal
Coach Fernando Santos has been in his post since 2014 and guided them to the European Championships in 2016. In 2018 they were knocked out by Uruguay in the last 16 and will get a chance to secure a measure of revenge in Qatar.
Ronaldo, who may well be struggling for first-team action at Old Trafford, will clearly be a key performer and is still very capable of impressing at the highest level. This is perhaps his last chance to secure a World Cup crown, which is the only major honour that eludes the 37-year-old.
It took a play-off win over North Macedonia to get to the World Cup, but they have enough about them to make a serious challenge for the World Cup. In the final third, they are very dangerous, with Ronaldo ably supported by the likes of Joao Felix, Diogo Jota, Rafael Leao and others.
In midfield, veteran Joao Moutinho is there to marshal the team, and Man United’s playmaker Bruno Fernandes can provide the ammunition. Man City’s Bernando Silva can do likewise.
Defensively Pepe is still a tigerish presence, and Ruben Dias is among the best centre-backs in world football. Then add the likes of Danilo and Joao Cancelo and keepers Rui Patricio and Jose Sa, and you have a squad that has quality in-depth.
Uruguay
Uruguay’s qualification campaign was nothing to write home about; they lost six of their 18 matches, and this isn’t the best squad they’ve sent to a World Cup, but it is one that has spirit and guile. For those reasons, you shouldn’t bet against Diego Alonso’s side safely making it through their group.
Arguably La Celeste still overly relies upon elder statesmen such as Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani, Diego Godin, Martin Caceres and Fernando Muslera, and these players are still the spine of the team.
Some younger performers are starting to make an impact, including Liverpool’s new signing Darwin Nunez and Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde. Alonso’s squad will need his team to work as an effective unit, but one wonders how they’ll fare once they meet their first prominent opponents in the knockout stages.
South Korea
Paulo Bento’s side may be a decent outside bet to make it out of this group. They made light work of qualification, conceding just three goals in ten qualifiers, and they are a cohesive squad and have a few quality players among their hard-working ranks.
Obviously, all eyes will be on Tottenham forward Son Heung-min, who captains the national team, but a number of his squadmates also play in the big leagues. Watch out for Mainz midfielder Lee Jae-sung, Wolves attacker Hwang Hee-chan and Napoli’s Kim Min-jae.
They’ve failed to qualify from the group stage in the past two tournaments but did, of course, reach the semi-finals back in 2002 and might pull off a surprise or two in Qatar.
Ghana
Otto Addo’s Black Stars arrive in Qatar in a period of fairly patchy form. It took away goals to see them past Nigeria to get to the World Cup, and they failed to impress at the African Nations Cup, losing to Comoros among others and finishing bottom of their group.
There will be a number of Premier League players on show in Ghana colours, and Arsenal’s Thomas Partey is an essential part of Addo’s set-up. Expect to see Brighton’s Tariq Lamptey, Southampton’s Mohammed Salisu, Leicester City defender Daniel Amartey and Crystal Palace forward Jordan Ayew among their squad.
Who Will Qualify
We’d bank on Portugal easing through this group and doing so at a canter, but then we’d fancy South Korea causing an upset and finishing above Uruguay to secure a second-place finish.
The opening clash between Uruguay and South Korea should be a fascinating encounter, as will the match-up between Portugal and Uruguay.
Group H Winner Odds
Portugal 8/11
Uruguay 9/5
South Korea 13/1
Ghana 13/1