World Cup: a bonanza for bookmakers

2026 World Cup.
Disclosure/Fifa
Revenue from betting during the next World Cup is expected to exceed US$50 billion (around R$251 billion at current prices), betting expert Darren Small told AFP, an extraordinary gain for companies in the sector.
Revenues will be significantly higher than the 2022 edition, largely because the quadrennial football spectacle has been expanded to 48 teams, well above the 32 that competed in Qatar.
"Simply the size and scope of this tournament guarantee that it will be the biggest betting event in history", David Stevens, head of Public Relations at English bookmaker Coral, told AFP.
Another factor, according to Small, vice-president of Sportradar, one of the world's leading sports technology companies, is that bettors are now also interested in the "celebrity of players", whereas previously they were limited to bet on a team to win or lose.
"We expect a lot of interest in special bets on players and what we call 'bet builders', or custom betting options," Small added.
"We will see a lot more interest in these types of bets. For example: players scoring goals with their left or right foot, number of passes, tackles, any statistical data."
"And from there, customers build narratives, stories like: 'I think team X will win this match, both teams will score, player bettors around the world are Argentina and France, although a significant number of people have also bet on England ending a 60-year wait to lift their second World Cup trophy.
"In fact, (for British punters) they are third favorites - behind only France and Spain - and if Thomas Tuchel (England manager) puts an end to 60 years of suffering, we bookies will be left with a significant payout," he said.
"However, the increasingly global nature of our business means that an England victory would not be as costly as it would have been, say, a decade ago," he noted.
In terms of individual stars, there is considerable interest in predictions about who will finish as the tournament's top scorer, with French star Kylian Mbappé and Norwegian striker Erling Haaland attracting a large volume of bets. will start on June 11th), according to registered bets.
This is New Zealand striker Ben Waine, on whom bets were placed in a manner described as "strange" and "peculiar", placing the player above the star of his national team, Chris Wood, from Nottingham Forest, in England.
Both Small and Stevens agree that the geographical distribution of the matches, across the United States, Canada and Mexico, brings some problems.
"The only challenge we face is obviously the issue of game times from the perspective of the European public," noted Small.
"The West Coast games will exert some pressure in that regard. They will be more difficult to follow from Europe. But we also have a very active South American region, with Brazil and other countries," he noted.
Small also points out that, to date, there has been little interest among bettors in a world title for the United States, one of the host countries. However, it is to be expected that - if the country lifts the trophy - President Donald Trump will be there, on stage, alongside the players.
"If the United States defies the 40 to 1 odds and lifts that trophy, expect extremely low odds on the bet on whether the president will be right in the middle of the celebrations!" he said, smiling.
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Source: G1