Golden Ball Odds & Betting Tips

Trying to pick the tournament MVP Golden Ball ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil is almost impossible. Some players play bigger depending on the importance of the game. To pick the MVP you really need to pick a player that will take their team to the finals and it is rare for the Golden Ball award to be selected to a player that doesn't carry their team to the finals where the last time that happened was by Diego Forlan for Uruguay in South Africa. Typically MVPs of the tournament are ones that lead their teams in goals and it will take a special game breaker to change that like a goalie, defender or midfielder that can break down a defense.

So who can get to the finals? This is a tough question to ask. Can Cristiano Ronaldo help his team escape the group of death? Finishing 1st in their group might be crucial towards getting an easier opponent for the knockout stages if they make it out. Brazil has no easy task either in their group and nobody knows how this team will perform with too much expectations with the spotlight being on Neymar. How about Lionel Messi? Argentina has a short history of failing despite having one of the best teams on paper.

Here are the odds for the Golden ball at Bet365:

• Neymar 6/1 odds
• Cristiano Ronaldo 9/1
• Lionel Messi 7/1
• Andres Iniesta 20/1
• Diego Costa 40/1

So if you are going to place a bet, some of the payouts are decent and you can probably pick 3 or 4 strong players and still expect a decent payout to make it worth your money. Let's assume you have $500 to spend and you break that down into 5 bets of $100 each. With the current odds you would get as low as $600 for a win and as high of $4000. If the big 3 players do win then you are looking at a range of $600 to $900 in a payout which is a great ROI. If you add a bonus on top of this, you are looking at positive expected value (+EV) on these plays which will make it tough to lose. If you shop for more odds then you are looking at possibly gaining a better edge overall.