THE BERNIE THE BOOK COLUMN WORLD CUP FEVER TO GRIP THE UK -


IMAGINE WHAT IT WILL BE LIKE IN …LISBON!


WHAT A SUMMER OF SPORT we have, and it all starts here in June.....AND PRIDE OF PLACE HAS TO GO TO THAT BEHEMOTH, THE FIFA WORLD CUP, over God knows how many days and over God knows how many games, but it starts on 11 June and finishes on 19 July..STREWTH!!


And my Nap of the event is...the SELECAO!!! but not the Brazilians, but rather the Portuguese and at a mouthwatering 16/1


YES, having looked at the groups, and there’s an awful lot of imponderables and assumptions, but if you win your group, then your side of the draw will no longer be affected and it is clear FIFA has loosely divided it up as a European v Americas final.


To that end, in one half you are likely to get France, Spain, Ger- many and the Netherlands and in the other half, the two Latin American giants, England and PORTUGAL... and they


are


battle hardened and full of great players, notably the aforementioned Ronaldo, but also Bruno (Man U ), Vitinhna (PSG)and a host of European stars.


Incidentally Thomas Tuchel is receiving a lot of criticism for essentially being ruthless and German!! Whereas I think it is a master stroke; his selection of Toney will be a winner and his non selection of Harry, Phil and Cole will be proven to be right. It’s about a squad, a team and a belief, not about a player’s individual talent.


Hats off to our Fuhrer!


England has more of a chance now than before and I have a sneaking admiration for him and them. 8/1 is fair value but not worthy of my alternate pick.


PHTM JUNE 2026


For that it’s off to the land of the rising sun, and a punt on JAPAN at 66/1 can’t go unbacked!


Now there is a squad who play for each other. What side they land in is debateable but I assure you they will want to be avoided.


AND FINALLY… DON’T WISH TO CROW… BUT, back in February’s column I advanced the tip that Josh Rock would come bottom of the Premier League Darts table at a stonking 12/1!!


With the regular season now complete, where did he finish? Bottom of course!!! I hope you followed me in..


BUT THERE’S MORE!!


Before the first red had been potted at the Crucible in the Snooker World Championship, last month’s column offered three tips..


They were... l Wu Yize at 20/1.. WINNER l Shaun Murphy at 16/1.. LOSING FINALIST l And John Higgins at 25/1.. SEMI FINALIST!!!


Talk about a 147 clearance!!!! AND THERE’S STILL MORE!!


I also tipped the 1,000 Guineas winner, True Love at 10/1 and the 2,000 Guineas third, Distant Storm (advised e/w) at 12/1


Who’s the man?? Why Bernie the Book of course!!


Until next month Good punting


Bernie the Book 75


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76