Long before the final whistle of this year’s soccer tournament blows, there has been a loud and clear message: this is the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But that’s an understatement. The 2026 World Cup already stands as the biggest betting event in history.
Wagers globally are expected to go beyond $50 billion, from more than $35 billion for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, said Chad Beynon, an analyst with Macquarie Securities. At the more optimistic end of the spectrum, betting volume at regulated operators may be in the region of $60 billion, which would be 71% higher than the World Cup 2022 total and 185% higher than the 2018 total, said H2 Gambling Capital.
It’s more than just growth; it signals a fundamental change in the relationship between wagering and international sporting events.
Why This World Cup Is Different
For the first time in its history, the tournament will feature 48 teams, up from 32 teams in prior editions, and 104 matches, up from 64. More matches mean more markets, more live betting opportunities, and, crucially, more entry points for non-football punters who have not placed wagers on the sport prior to this competition.
That is the U.S. market at full scale. Today, an estimated 65 percent of people in the United States have legal access to sports betting, compared to about 40 percent for the 2022 edition. And for the first time, U.S. bettors are front and center in an international tournament that has games throughout North America in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Sportsbooks in the U.S. alone could move up to $4.4 billion during the tournament.
Brazil is in the world of the regulated market for the first time with this edition of the World Cup, providing the main stress test for the country’s license regime. That contrast matters beyond Brazil: https://casinoguiden.biz/ helps Norwegian users compare licences, bonus restrictions, payment methods and withdrawal terms before choosing a casino. The country is expected to represent 10 percent of the betting volume in the tournament, meaning it will become a major source of betting volume within a regulated market overnight, essentially. The potential for the country’s regulated operators is massive, with hundreds of millions of potential customers.
The Product Has Changed Too
Big operators are now offering upwards of 200 different betting markets a fixture, nearly two and half times what was offered for the 2022 tournament. Bet builders, same-game parlay, player props, in-play betting, the depth of product just increased massively.
Then there is a new entrant on the field: prediction markets. Betters in the United States are able to place bets on a match using prediction markets, but in a number of states legal battles are taking place over these products, with the CFTC believing it has jurisdiction over them. They are a threat to sportsbooks and competition between traditional sportsbooks and prediction markets has already started; prediction markets will fight for bettors that want a trading-style experience, especially younger bettors.
The Regulatory Picture: Spotlight and Pressure
And of course with great scale comes great scrutiny; throughout the tournament regulators in every single major market were on the lookout.
In the United Kingdom, the advertising ban that prohibits advertising during live sporting events will remain in place. France’s new gambling regulator, the ANJ (National Agency for the Regulation of Gambling) has advised operators to “limit promotional pressure”, noting that their total marketing plans for 2026 were worth €785 million, a 25% increase compared to 2025.
In Brazil, authorities have started an enquiry into betting commercials aired during the World Cup, while in France betting promotion soared during the tournament, particularly during matches and in younger viewers.
The same issue is visible in Bulgaria, where the difference between licensed and offshore betting sites is not always obvious, especially when bonus terms and withdrawals are involved. Similarly, offshore operators have been operating, leveraging social media platforms, sports-related content, influencers, external domains, and a high degree of advertising to meet demand for the tournament, which regulators throughout the world struggle to stymie for major events.
Responsible Gambling: The Question That Won’t Go Away
A paper from June 2026 by the National Bureau of Economic Research reported an association between legalized sports betting and falling food sufficiency in the US during 2021-2023. The paper’s authors did not attribute any causation but the association in that population, largely 25-44-year-old adults, has been noted by public health researchers and advocacy groups.
CPA Canada’s survey revealed that one in four gamblers stated they placed a wager because of an advertisement; 37% of respondents 18 to 34 said this influenced their decision to gamble.
Those certainly aren’t arguments in opposition to the industry; those are arguments for seriously considering the responsible gambling side of the business, and these are investments leading operators are making to a greater extent than they’ve in any previous cycle, and not just because they’re asked to do so, but because it’s the right infrastructure to build out.
What Comes After the Final Whistle
Experts estimate that in 2025, the global market size of online gambling amounted to $99.7 billion and is expected to reach $179.7 billion by 2034. Europe is currently the region holding the largest share of the online gambling industry, however, Latin America and Asia-Pacific are seen as future expansion regions.
It’s one of the largest new regulated markets that the world has seen in almost an instant; Brazil is on its way. Finland is moving away from a state monopoly to competitive licensing as it opens its market to private operators. The landscape is full of new regulations, new territories, new formats, and the structural momentum of the sector goes far beyond any one tournament.
The World Cup 2026 will be a customer-acquisition event for operators. The real work, retaining those customers, designing responsible products, keeping up with regulations as the marketplace gets ever more sophisticated, happens thereafter.
