Summer Football 2015
Content Editor at Free Super Tips, Alex was born in the shadow of Old Trafford and is an avid Man Utd fan. After graduating from university he combined his love of football, writing and betting to join FST and now closely follows goings-on in all of the top European leagues.
We have betting coverage for all major International tournaments this summer including Under 21 European Championships, Under 20 World Cup, Women’s World Cup and Copa America.
Think Football Is Over For the Summer? Think Again!
The dust has settled on the Premier League for 2014/15, the curtain has fallen on most of Europe’s biggest leagues and the Champions League is soon to be a distant memory. So the football season has been put to bed, right?
Wrong. There’s a host of top action to come this summer, with plenty of opportunity for a bet and a chance to see come of the top young talent in the game strutting their stuff.
FIFA Under 20 World Cup
From: May 30-June 20
Hosts: New Zealand
Watch: Eurosport (check listings for details)
FIFA might be a bit of a dirty word at the moment, but they sure know how to host a good football tournament.
This competition sees some of the world’s finest young talents pit their wits against each other – although, arguably, the tournament is worse off without the participation of Spain, France and England.
Due to the time difference matches will take place between 3am and 10am UK time, but that shouldn’t put you off having a flutter or two. The likes of perennial favourites Brazil, Germany and Argentina (all 4/1) are attracting the most heat with bookmakers, with Portugal (7/1), Colombia (10/1) and the USA (25/1) well priced dark horses.
Toulon Tournament
From: May 27-June 7
Hosts: France
Watch: BT Sport (check listings for details)
Held concurrently with the Under 20s World Cup, the Toulon tournament is a famous invitational tournament held in France each year which has played host to many of today’s leading lights in football.
Brazil aren’t present to defend the trophy they won in 2014, but England’s own Under 20s are competing; so this gives domestic fans a chance to check out some of their own talent. The likes of James Wilson, Chuba Akpom and Demarai Gray are most likely to stand out.
Betting is available on each Toulon match, which take place over 80 minutes, with hosts France, Holland, England and Mexico amongst the tournament favourites.
Womens World Cup
From: June 6-July 7
Hosts: Canada
Watch: BBC Two/ BBC Three (check listings for details)
The showpiece event of the womens calendar takes place in June with the World Cup.
The tournament was won, surprisingly, by Japan last time, and they can be backed at a lofty 8/1 to defend their crown.
Womens football is one of the fastest-growing sports here in the UK, so there will be plenty of intrigue as to how Mark Sampson’s England fare. The fact that a number of their matches will be broadcast on BBC Two at primetime speaks volumes.
They’re not highly fancied however, and their price of 25/1 reflects a side who were knocked out on penalties (surprise surprise) in the quarter finals last time round.
USA and Germany (both 3/1) look the smart money, although the hosts Canada (16/1) will fancy their chances of progressing from a group containing the likes of China, Holland and New Zealand.
Copa America
From: June 11-July 4
Hosts: Chile
Watch: YouTube/Xbox Live (check listings for details)
Some of the world’s best players will strut their stuff in the jewel in South America’s football crown.
It has the habit of being a strange tournament – Uruguay are the holders after defeating Paraguay in the final in 2011 (Brazil, Argentina and Colombia all lost in the quarter finals) – so bare this in mind when placing your bets.
That said, Argentina are rightly hot favourites at 9/4, boasting a potential forward line of Messi, Aguero, Tevez and Di Maria as they do. Brazil (3/1) are improving under new boss Dunga, whilst Uruguay (14/1) will rue the loss of Luis Suarez, who is still serving his international suspension for biting Giorgio Chellini in the World Cup.
Despite the absence of the Barcelona man, there will still be the likes of Neymar, Alexis Sanchez, James Rodriguez and Edinson Cavani to enjoy. And you can watch it all via YouTube or an Xbox Live subscription.
Under 21 European Championships
From: June 17-30
Hosts: Czech Republic
Watch: BT Sport (check listings for details)
From an English perspective, this could well be the finest tournament of the summer. That’s because our boys have a decent shot of going all the way.
With a squad packed with Premier League experience (Saido Berahino, Danny Ings, James Ward-Prowse etc) and led by the seemingly unstoppable Harry Kane, Gareth Southgate’s young lions should be in the mix – and their outright price of 4/1 reflects that.
Holders Spain’s demise – they failed to qualify for the tournament – will play into England’s hands, but they will still have to contend with the likes of Germany (9/4), Portugal (6/1) and Italy (7/1).
But, for once, football (and a big trophy) could be coming home.