Key Points
- The World Cup is underway and crypto companies are getting involved
- OKX has launched an NFT tournament where customers can mint three free NFTs
- Brazil is the favorite, but European teams have won every tournament since 2002
It’s time for the World Cup.
The World Cup is unquestionably the biggest sporting competition in the world and a truly global event. Although this edition has been marred by human rights concerns and controversy over how the tournament was awarded, 32 nations have still come together to determine who will hold the crown for the next four years.
Crypto world leverages World Cup for exposure
The World Cup is making waves in the crypto space as well. Cristiano Ronaldo released an NFT collection on Binance, an announcement that might have drawn more attention if it hadn’t coincided with public disputes between Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and Sam Bankman-Fried on Twitter, a saga that ultimately contributed to the infamous collapse of FTX.
First Lionel Messi stole some of Ronaldo’s spotlight with a remarkable goal against Mexico, and then the headlines returned to Sam Bankman-Fried. The man just can’t catch a break.
Elsewhere in the NFT world, OKX has introduced the OKX Football Cup, a tournament where users can mint NFTs and compete for prizes. While I’ve been critical of the NFT market and have written about the lack of intrinsic value in the broader metaverse trend, I’m a big football fan.
So, with the option to mint free NFTs for three different teams, I decided to take a look and see which teams might be the best picks. It’s worth noting that the OKX NFTs aren’t strictly free — users must still cover gas fees, which can be substantial on networks like Ethereum.
As long as you mint before the group stage ends on December 3, you can enter the competition; gas fees are the only cost.
Who will win the World Cup?
To identify the best teams to mint NFTs for, I first mapped the odds for each country to win the tournament. For this I pulled bookmaker odds as of Tuesday, November 29 (this was before the resolution of the England/USA group tonight).
With 27.4% probability, Brazil is considered the most likely team to win the tournament. Personally, I’d love to see them succeed. Brazil’s national team is iconic, and since they haven’t lifted the trophy since 2002, it would be great to see them return to the top.
In fact, European teams have won the last four World Cups since Brazil beat Germany 2-0 in Yokohama, Japan, in 2002. Germany’s 2014 victory over Argentina and France’s 2018 win over a brave Croatia underline Europe’s recent dominance in international football.
Is minting Brazil a good idea?
In practical terms, the answer to which teams to mint for is straightforward: pick from the top three favorites — Brazil, France, and Spain. With respective win probabilities of 27.4%, 14.7%, and 12.2%, there’s roughly a 53% chance one of those three will lift the trophy.
But where’s the fun in only picking the favorites?
My heart says Argentina, because it would be a joy to see the little maestro, Lionel Messi, finish his career with the biggest prize. Yet after watching Argentina struggle at times, their 10% chance to win seems generous.
Absent my own country (Ireland) from the tournament, I’m rooting for the South American sides. As a European, it’s enjoyable to watch Spain, France and the rest perform well, but I’d also love to see the South Americans reclaim football’s crown.
Deep down, though, I suspect Spain or France might take it. I can’t quite put my trust in Brazil despite their talent — a nagging concern about their form, and a knock on Neymar, doesn’t help.
But that’s the beauty of the World Cup: anything can happen. That’s why we watch the matches.