2010 World Cup: The Next Champion Will Be...

It's time for our 2010 World Cup champion pick. Who will it be?

At 4/1 odds, Spain and Brazil are the front runners, but cross them off the list. How about Italy, last year's champion, at 14/1 for the repeat? No thanks. 2006 Runner-up France at 20/1 won't be sniffing the Cup championship this year either.

We could go with a homer pick, the United States at 50/1, but while we picked the Americans to win Group C, we aren't that big of homers. Their Group C rival, England, is sitting on 8/1 odds, but we predict more struggles for the English when it comes to dealing with the expectations. All you can expect is an upset from them in the round of 16.

In our view, it's down to Netherlands (9/1) and Argentina (6/1), and we're going with the Argentines. Injury concerns have us frightened on the Dutch front, though you can expect them to be one of the final four teams remaining.

So there you have it. Your 2010 World Cup champion, according to the new and improved Stock Lemon gurus, will be Argentina.

But hey, there's only one way to find out--playing the games! Kick-off of the 2010 World Cup is tomorrow in South Africa, and you can bet that we will have plenty of coverage throughout!

2010 World Cup: Group A Betting

The World Cup is right around the corner, and you'd be wise to fill your cup of soccer knowledge right here at Stock Lemon. Leading up to arguably the biggest single sport event in the world, we will deliver a group-by-group betting breakdown for 2010 World Cup Soccer Betting in South Africa. And we begin, naturally, with Group A.

Here are the odds:

France... EVEN
Uruguay... +400
Mexico... +350

South Africa... +600

Now, it's tempting to take South Africa with the home field advantage. We get that. Those 6/1 odds like mighty good if you think the African applause will be that overpowering, but let's use our heads here. Tempting as the home country might be, the smart money to win this group is on the 2006 runner-up, France. Though the odds are for even money, much less enticing than the others, it's actually a fairly decent bet for a perennial powerhouse such as France to headbutt their way through the group.

If you're in a situation where you can bet for the second place finisher, go with Mexico. They aren't what they used to be, sure, but the 2010 World Cup will feature the future of Mexican soccer. The performance of the young squad will serve as a building block for years to come in Mexican soccer.

For the record, we do predict that the home field advantage will be enough for South Africa to finish third, with a disappointing last place for the Uruguay squad. Our main reason for Uruguay's struggles? Consider the following evidence, in whichever language you speak.

This puts our final Group A standings at:

1. France

2. Mexico

3. South Africa

4. Uruguay

So, there you have it. We like the favorite France, at even money, to come out on top of Group A. Not big on the French? Fear not, there are seven more groups for as to cover, as well as the overall World Cup winner. Stay tuned and remember to get your kicks at Stock Lemon all summer long.