The World-Cup qualification phase is behind us and all the usual suspects capable of winning this mega event, made it to South Africa. Also, all the former World Champions will compete; Uruguay held off a scare from Costa Rica and France eliminated a very unfortunate Irish team due to an incredible hand play by Thierry Henry.

The international football bookmakers rank reigning European Champ Spain together with 5-time winner Brazil as the top of the list with odds around 5.50 (9/2). These two are followed by England (7.50 or 13/2), Argentina (10.00 or 9/1) and Germany at 13.00 (12/1).

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The football bookmakers would currently pay out 14.00 (13/1) for the Netherlands and an always very dangerous Italy. The Top 10 list is completed by France and Portugal with odds around 17.00 (16/1) and the Ivory Coast at 25.00 (24/1).

Behind these 10 top contenders, matters quickly become kind of improbable. While Chile, Serbia, Ghana and Paraguay with sportsbetting odds of around 40.00-60.00 (39/1 – 59/1) might have a very slim chance to win this event, behind these four, there are no less than nine more teams coming it at odds of around 100-to-1, these are: USA, Cameroon, Denmark, Mexico, Nigeria, Australia, Greece, Uruguay and host nation South Africa.

Anyone of these teams winning the FIFA Football World-Cup 2010 would certainly be a major sensation by itself, but if any of “the rest” actually wins it all, then that would rank as one of the most stunning “Cinderella”-victories in sports history for all time. Here the “candidates”:

Switzerland: around 150-to-1
Japan and Slovenia: up to 250-to-1
South Korea, Slovakia and Algeria: 300-to-1
New Zealand, Honduras and North Korea: up to 2000-to-1 (!!)

The FIFA World Cup Final Draw will be held on December 4 in Cape Town (19.00 local time/18.00 CET). Once the draw is complete, some teams winning odds might either go up or down, of course, depending on the group opponents. Especially at World-Cups in the past, there were rather “easy-breezy” groups for the favourites, but also groups containing 4 really strong contenders.

The final Champions League clash is getting nearer and nearer. On May 27, Manchester United will try to achieve what hasn`t been done so far in the “new” Champions League era, that is to defend the title. 3 teams have so far reached the final 1 year after winning the Champions League, but so far all three have lost (*).

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Currently, there is no real betting favorite in this matchup as Manchester and Barcelona are offered around 13/8 odds on the win in regulation. A draw after 90 minutes stands at about 11/5 at the moment. Here are the current odds on Barcelona vs. ManU from select bookmakers:

BET365: UK odds: 13/8 – 23/10 – 13/8 ___ decimal: 2.63 – 3.30 – 2.63
LADBROKES: UK odds: 11/8 – 11/5 – 8/5 ___ decimal: 2.38 – 3.20 – 2.60
UNIBET: UK odds: 17/10 – 11/5 – 17/10 ___ decimal:2.70 – 3.20 -2.70

Manchester United and FC Barcelona have had nine official matches so far, with three wins for ManU, two for Barça and four draws. Here are the results from those previous encounters:

1984 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup quarterfinal:
Barcelona – Manchester United 2:0
Manchester United – Barcelona 3:0 –> United won 3-2 on aggregate

1991 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup final:
Barcelona – Manchester United 1:2

1995 Champions League group stage:
Manchester United – Barcelona 2:2
Barcelona – Manchester United 4:0 –> Barcelona advanced, ManU was out

1999 UEFA Champions League group stage:
Manchester United – Barcelona 3:3
Barcelona – Manchester United 3:3 –> ManU advanced, Barcelona was eliminated

2008 Champions League semifinal:
Barcelona – Manchester United 0:0
Manchester United – Barcelona 1:0 –> United won 1-0 on aggregate

(*)
AC Milan won in 1994 (4:0 against Barcelona), lost in 1995 (0:1 against Ajax Amsterdam)
Ajax Amsterdam won in 1995 (1:0 over Milan), lost in 1996 (2:4 against Juventus – penalty shootout)
Juventus won in 1996 (4:2 over Ajax), but lost in 1997 to Borussia Dortmund with 1:3

Well, at least the Pittsburgh Steelers managed to win their game as a heavy favourite (35-24 against the Chargers) and move into the Conference Final next Sunday. Before that, the Philadelphia Eagles handed the defending champions New York Giants a stunning upset with their 23-11 win in New York.

On Saturday, 2 other underdogs shocked the home crowds, when the Baltimore Ravens kicked out the Tennessee Titans 13-10 and the Arizona Cardinals continued their sensational run with a 33-13 crushing of the Carolina Panthers.

Sportsbettors, football fans and online bookies worldwide now have to wait until next Sunday January 18, when the AFC and NFC Championship Games are due, here the matchups:

Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals – 3pm live on Fox TV – Bet at Bet365
Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers – 6:30pm live on CBS – Ladbrokes UK Odds

The sportsbooks and bookmakers currently see the Pittsburgh Steelers favored to defeat the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC at around 4/9 (british odds), 1.44 (decimal odds) and -225 (american odds). In the NFC Championship game, the Philadelphia Eagles are favored to win it against the Arizona Cardinals at around 8/15 (english), 1.55 (european odds) and -180 (US odds). These betting odds are subject to change over the coming week, of course. The more money gets bet on a certain team, the lower the winning odds will go (and vice versa). So, comparing the odds of your favourite bookmakers before you place a bet will produce better results in the long run !

Odds on winning the SuperBowl 2009:

The Pittsburgh Steelers are currently the favourite to take the Super Bowl crown from the already defeated New York Giants at around 8/4, 2.50 and +150. They are followed by the Philadelphia Eagles (9/4, 3.25 and +225), Baltimore Ravens (10/3, 4.33 and +333) and the Arizona Cardinals at 5, 6.00 and +500 !

We`re down to the last eight in this years NFL Football Playoffs and that means the Divisional Finals are here. This coming weekend will see the Tennessee Titans host the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers the San Diego Chargers in the AFC Playoffs, while in the NFC the New York Giants play against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers take on the Arizona Cardinals.

All featured bookmakers on www.worldwidebookmakers.net offer you highly competitive odds on all 4 divisional playoff finals, from money lines to handicap odds and from multi-game parleys to “added-points” teasers. Thanks to UIGEA (read: “hypocritical law to protect the U.S. national gambling monopolies”), most bookies however DO NOT accept new customers from the USA, the only exception being: SPORTSBETTING.com !

Here is the NFL Divisional Playoff schedule for Saturday and Sunday:

Saturday, 4:30 ET: Baltimore Ravens at Tennessee Titans – live on CBS TV
Saturday, 8:15 ET: Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers – live on Fox

NON-US bettors: Odds on the NFL Playoffs by Bet365 !

US customers: Bet online on the NFL at Sportsbetting .com !

Sunday, 1:00 ET: Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants – live on Fox TV
Sunday, 4:45 ET: San Diego Chargers at Pittsburgh Steelers – live on CBS

All the home teams are favored to win their respective games, the Carolina Panthers being the biggest favourite at -400, followed by the Pittsburgh Steelers at -250, the New York Giants at -200 and finally the Tennessee Titans at -155.

Odds shown above are “American Odds”, a “minus” sign in front of the number indicates how much you have to wager to win 100$, so -400 means one must bet 400 to win 100 for a 500 payout. A “plus” sign indicates how much you would win for a 100 wager, for example + 180 would mean you get 180 payout for a 100 bet.

After these 4 games the road to Super Bowl 43 will continue on Sunday January 18, when the AFC and NFC Championships will be played. The National Football Conference NFC will kick it off at 3pm, followed by the American Football Conference AFC at 6:30pm.

Betting on English Premier League Football or the FA-Cup, the Italian Serie A, German Bundesliga or the Primera Division from Spain, find the leading bookmakers for all your football betting needs.

The UEFA Champions League is in the final stages of the group stage. Place your bets on winners, runner-up`s, halftime results, the over/under or livebetting (aka in-play betting). Will the heavy favourites FC Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona come through or will Inter Milan, FC Liverpool, Arsenal London, AS Rome or Bayern Munich have a real shot at the title ?

Special – or Longtime-Bets: Who will become the champion in England, France, Germany, Russia, Portugal, Italy or Spain..? Who is going to win the UEFA-Cup in 2009 or the World Cup in 2010 ? All top internet bookmakers offer good odds on the leading European Leagues. Bet online on the No. 1 sport worldwide !

Football Betting

The NFL Football Season is slowly approaching the playoff season, who will be the new Super-Bowl champs and follow the New York Giants, who handed the New England Patrios a huge upset to win the Super Bowl in 2008. Place your bets during this season on all the remaining games: Who will win the AFC (American Football Conference) or NFC (National Football Conference) ? The best online bookies offer pointspreads, playoff odds, parleys, teasers… – The best odds on the over/under, how many field goals will be scored..? Football betting by far outranks wagering on any other sport in the USA.

Basketball Betting

Get the best odds for online betting on basketball: All internet bookmakers offer you competitive odds on NBA Basketball with single bets, parlays, teasers… – Who will become Division Champs, who`s going to make the playoffs ?

Most sportsbooks offer new customers, who deposit real money generous bonuses like 20% on top of what you deposit, some offer free bets, regular bonuses or special promotions, for example just for the Super-Bowl 2009, March Madness or the Stanley-Cup.

Tennis Betting

Odds on Wimbledon in London, sports betting on the French Open in Paris, the US Open or the Australian Open. Internet odds from the best online bookmakers are available for tennis-bets on the Davis-Cup and all WTA (Ladies) & ATP Tournaments. Place a bet on single matches, whole tournament winners (futures), who`s winning how many sets, anyone even the Grand Slam in 2009 ..?

Baseball Betting

Major League Baseball: Bet on any game of your favourite team. Who will win the National League or American League, even bet on which team will finish last in their division. Baseball betting opportunites are numerous as each team plays 162 matches during the regular baseball season. Bookmakers offer bets on the game results, run line (handicap); run total (over/under the bookies line), total number of home runs and total number of strikeouts.

Hockey Betting

Bet with highest odds on the NHL Hockey League (USA) and the Stanley-Cup, as well as on all the European hockey leagues from Sweden, Finland, Italy, Russia, Switzerland or Germany. The most popular betting options for hockey punters are the draw option, game total and handicap. Other betting options are: Pick the score, point scorer head to head, first team to score, team to score last goal, most penalties in minutes, time of first goal…

Formula 1 Betting

The Formula 1 will start it`s new season on March 29, 2009 with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia. 7 months and 17 races later, after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 1, 2009, the motorsports and racing fans all around the world will know if british racing sensation Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren Mercedes was able to defend his title “F1 World Champion” or not. Bookmakers offer F1-fans odds on all the single races (win or place), the hunt for the pole-position or even special bets on how many cars will finish the race.