How to Bet on the World Cup - Betting Guide 2026

The FIFA World Cup betting odds are some of the most anticipated and regarded international soccer tournaments odds. With international superstars like Lionel Messi, Marcus Rashford, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar Jr., and Harry Kane all featuring, Canada/Mexico/United States will be one of the most exciting tournaments we’ve seen in quite some time! Here we cover World Cup odds, how to read them, and the sportsbooks with the most competitive betting markets.

The event has been held every four years since 1930, meaning there have been 22 editions of the FIFA World Cup. In 90 years, we have seen plenty of FIFA World Cup betting odds, and we plan to take full advantage of the huge array of games and options available.

With the first round of games over, we are now starting to see which teams are the best and could stake a claim to win the World Cup outright in 2026.

World Cup 2026
France	+550	+550	+550
Brazil	+600	+600	+600
England	+600	+600	+600
Spain	+900	+900	+900
Argentina	+800	+900	+900
Germany	+1000	+1000	+1000
Portugal	+1300	+1300	+1300
Netherlands	+1600	+1600	+1600
Italy	+2000	+2000	+2000
Belgium	+3300	+3300	+3300
USA	+3300	+3300	+3300

Last updated on: December 16, 2024

Viewership for the FIFA World Cup is exponential. It is the most viewed and prestigious sporting event and even overshadows the Olympics and the Super Bowl.

Top World Cup Betting Prospects For 2026

The domestic and European soccer leagues are well underway. We’ve had the pleasure of watching some of the best young talents in Europe battle it out in Champions League matches, with young talents like Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé showing why they are the most exciting players in the world.

Mbappé is playing his football at Paris Saint-Germain, alongside the legendary Lionel Messi and the showman Neymar Jr, who are showing why PSG will be the team to beat in Europe this season. Despite Haaland being one of the best players in the world right now, scoring more goals than he’s played games in both the Champions League and Premier League, where he’s now playing under Pep Guardiola for Manchester City.

There are a variety of unique betting promotions for the World Cup that involve these kinds of names, as providers know they will provide some highlight reel moments in Canada/Mexico/United States. The games will be split across the following stadiums mentioned in the countries mentioned above:

• Estadio Azteca, Mexico City (Mexico)
• MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey (USA)
• AT&T Stadium, Dallas (USA)
• Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City(USA)
• NRG Stadium, Houston (USA)
• Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta (USA)
• SoFi Stadium, California (USA)
• Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia (USA)
• Lumen Field, Seattle (USA)
• Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
• Gillete Stadium, Boston (USA)
• Hard Rock Stadium, Miami (USA)
• BC Place, Vancouver (Canada)
• Estadio BBVA, Monterrey (Mexico)
• Estadio Akron, Guardalajara (Mexico)
• BMO Field, Toronto (Canada)

Many sites covering the outright betting market for the World Cup are showing an interest in Argentina. While we don’t believe it will be their year, they’re definitely worth a shot.

Past FIFA World Cup Winners

• 2022 – Argentina
• 2018 – France
• 2014 – Germany
• 2010 – Spain
• 2006 – Italy
• 2002 – Brazil
• 1998 – France
• 1994 – Brazil
• 1990 – West Germany
• 1986 – Argentina
• 1982 – Italy
• 1978 – Argentina
• 1974 – West Germany
• 1970 – Brazil
• 1966 – England
• 1962 – Brazil
• 1958 – Brazil
• 1954 – West Germany
• 1950 – Uruguay
• 1946 – Not played due to World War II
• 1942 – Not played due to World War II
• 1938 – Italy
• 1934 – Italy
• 1930 – Uruguay

The FIFA World Cup finals are the tournament finale, and the winners have crowned the World Cup title holders for four whole years until another team wins. With such a large and prestigious tournament, oddsmakers and sportsbooks offer plenty of betting opportunities and FIFA World Cup betting odds on each match throughout the month-long event.

But first, let’s look at some popular FIFA World Cup betting options and where we can place our wagers for the 2026 World Cup.

World Cup Moneyline

While the usual betting type in soccer betting is a three-way moneyline, we are only going to focus on the regular moneyline betting type, as many sportsbooks will not offer the draw option for the World Cup soccer betting – as there needs to be a winner of each game.

It depends on the sportsbook you use for your World Cup wagering – they could offer a draw option if their rules state that there could be a draw option at the end of the 90-minute regular time. This would be so highly unlikely and the soccer odds would be high, we aren’t certain it would be a good bet to place – so let’s stick with the two team moneyline.

You will see your two moneyline options – both teams playing in the game: the favored team and underdog and your job is to decide which team will win the game straight up.

Here’s an example of a moneyline – we’ll use the 2022 FIFA World Cup final:

• France -225
• Argentina +165
• France is favored to win this match, and Croatia is the underdog. Since this game happened in the past and we know that France won the game, if you placed a $225 wager on France, you would have won $100 plus your initial stake. If Croatia won, and you bet $100 on them, you would have won $165 plus your initial stake.

World Cup Spread Betting

Spreads are popular when betting on any professional sport, and in soccer, they’re going by a different name: goal line bets, not point spreads because soccer tracks goals instead of points. Soccer games are usually rather low scoring, so the spreads aren’t high.

A common World Cup spread you may see is -1.5/+1.5, which means that the oddsmakers are giving the underdog a head start before the game even begins. This means that the underdog needs to win the game or lose by less than one goal, and the favored team will need to win by one or more goals.

If we use the same teams as above, and the World Cup Final spread looked like this:

• France -1.5
• Argentina +1.5

If you bet on France, they would need to win by two goals for your bet to cash. If you bet on Argentina, they would need to win the game by any amount or lose by less than 1 goal.

Over/Under or Totals Betting

Totals betting during the FIFA World Cup is just like betting on any other game in any other sport. You will be betting on whether you think the total combined score for both teams will be higher or lower than the oddsmaker’s set line.

The difference between soccer and other professional sports is that totals are shown in multiples of .25 since the scoring in soccer is so lower on average. You may see totals of 2.5, 2.75, 3.0, etc.

FIFA World Cup Futures

Long before the tournament, even years in advance, FIFA World Cup futures are released on many sportsbooks. World Cup Futures are betting options that have all the team names and their odds to win the FIFA World Cup, they will be ranked based on how likely they are to win the championship. You can place your wagers years and even months in advance and look for huge payouts once the championship ends and a victor is crowned.

Usually, the previous year’s winner sits at the top of the odds board until we get into the qualification round. The issue with having the tournament every four years is that you never get the exact same team twice, so teams perform vastly different each World Cup, and there have only ever been two back-to-back champions in the history of the tournament.

It’s always possible to cash out World Cup bets at any point before the team gets eliminated because you’re betting so far in advance, there’s no way to determine how a team might perform. If you change your mind on your chosen team, you can cash out your bet – you likely won’t get your full stake back but it’s good to save some of your wagers.

FIFA World Cup Prop Bets

You can place a few props or proposition bets on the World Cup games, as sportsbooks will not hesitate to create extra betting opportunities during such a high-profile event. Props are fun and unique wagers placed on events in the game that have nothing to do with the outcome or score.

Some examples of props we might see during the tournament could include a mix of over/under style wagers, or yes or no questions, just to name a few.

You may see World Cup props like:

Will Team USA be eliminated from the 2026 World Cup?

• Eliminated Group Stage +200
• Eliminated Round of 16 +200
• Eliminated Quarterfinals +600
• Eliminated Semi-Finals +1200
• Eliminated in Finals +2600
• Winner of World Cup +6600

Will the 2026 World Cup be a rematch of the 2022 Final? Yes +2500 No -5000

Odds of Kylian Mbappe winning the World Cup Golden Boot? Yes +8000