FIFA World Cup Betting: For just the second time in its country's history, New Zealand will take to the pitch in the World Cup in 2010 in South Africa. The Kiwis had a dominating side in Oceania qualifying, but the task will inevitably be significantly harder competing with some of the best sides in the world. Needless to say, the World Cup odds are certainly stacked against the All Whites.

Five wins in a row in qualification nailed down a playoff berth for the Kiwis against the fifth place Asian side. Bahrain was a sizeable World Cup betting favorite, but New Zealand came through with a draw on enemy soil, followed up by a tight 1-0 win back at home to make it to its first World Cup since 1982.

Attacking options just aren't present for New Zealand, so the captain of the club, D Ryan Nelsen is going to have to be the anchor to a defense that has to be as tight as nails. Nelsen's 'D' only allowed five goals in qualifying, but then again, Italy, Paraguay, and Slovakia weren't amongst the teams that the Kiwis were running up against either.

Just as was the case in 1982 when New Zealand lost all three of its qualifying matches and was bounced out of the World Cup early, a similar, if not identical result is expected in 2010. Not many teams have as long of odds to win this tournament as the Kiwis do, as they are +250000 on the World Cup lines. If they pull it off, the New Zealanders would inevitably be one of the best underdog stories in the history of sports. However, that likelihood is virtually not even worth mentioning.