The 2026 FIFA World Cup is still well over half a year away, but some key betting stakeholders like bet365 and Spotlight Sports Group (SSG) are already reporting extensive engagement with the tournament.

With the draw taking place tonight, beating volume and the diversity of bet slips will only increase once punters know who exactly each team will be facing. The bet365 trading team has revealed that betting is already well underway on its platform.

Euro 2024 champions Spain, coming in at 9/2 at the time of writing, are the most popular choice for bet365 punters, accounting for 27% of World Cup outright winner bets placed since 16 November. Given their dominant performance in last year’s Euros, this isn’t a huge surprise.

England are the second most popular bet at 6/1, accounting for 19% of outright tournament winner bets. The team’s strong performances during the qualifiers will explain some of this, though some patriotic punting on the part of bet365’s English customer-base may also account for it.

“We have taken many thousands of bets since mid-November and have noticed some eye-catching trends,” said Steve Freeth, bet365’s Sports and Trading Expert.

“The money for current favourites Spain is predictable, given their unbeaten run of 31 games. However, they were unable to match England’s achievement of not conceding a goal having let in two in their final game against Turkey.

“Likewise, England, who sailed through Group K with a perfect record of eight wins and scoring twenty-two goals. Thomas Tuchel is already showing that he’s not afraid to ruffle the feathers of the big names for the betterment of the team.”

No Scotland, no party

After England, Portugal are the third most bet on with 12% of outright bets at 10/1, followed by outsiders Norway with 8% of bets at 33/1. The inclusion of one particular player on the Norway team can be marked down as the big motivating factor behind this.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has established himself as one of the best if not the best active forwards in the game right now, scoring the most Premier League goals for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons, and coming in as the third top goalscorer last season.

Freeth remarked: “Norway boast the greatest goalscorer on the planet right now and with the inevitable ‘dark horses’ tag heading their way, it’s Erling Haaland and Co who are attracting some tasty punts at big prices having signed off their eight wins with a Haaland brace in a 4-1 hammering of Italy.”

Further down the list we see Scotland, who scored four goals against Denmark to secure qualification for the World Cup for the first time since 1998. Coming in at 250/1, Scotland have appeared on 4% of bet365 outright betslips, the same amount placed on 2022 tournament winners Argentina.

Again, patriotic punting may be a big reason for this, similar to the case with Scotland’s neighbours and arch rivals to the south, England. The team’s qualification sent the TartanArmy into a patriotic frenzy, and bookies can probably expect this to translate to betslips.

“Scotland produced a memorable night at Hampden Park last month with Steve Clarke’s side qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 after beating Denmark in a nail-biting victory,” said Freeth.

“The biggest surprise might be the money for Scotland, for whom we’re seeing similar amounts to World Cup holders Argentina right now. The reason could be that Scott McTominay and Lionel Messi are currently on the same planet.”

Americas’ location will change behaviour

It’s not just punter preferences and the impact this could have on operator trading teams should be kept in mind – firms should be aware of the timing of the tournament, how and when customers will want to place their bets, and marketing considerations.

Spotlight Sports Group, a betting media company most known for its ownership of the Racing Post, has published its own report ahead of the World Cup draw later today, examining betting projections.

The firm has found that 44% of bettors anticipate that they will opt for pre-match betting, particularly in the UK, due to the late night and early morning kickoff times from the US, Canada and Mexico.

Regardless of the kickoff times, anticipation and excitement are high. SSG believes that 70% of fans intend on placing a bet on the tournament, of which 19% are first time football bettors.

This proves what the industry already knew, something that has been demonstrated at pretty much every international tournament – that huge contests like this are a big customer acquisition opportunity.

This may be particularly true for the US, one of the three host nations, and a market where many international firms have struggled to break the effective duopoly held by FanDuel and DraftKings. According to SSG, 90% of bettors intend to wager on the tournament, including many newcomers to soccer betting and sports betting in general.

Mark Langdon, SSG’s Group Sports Director, said: “The data shows that the 2026 World Cup will bring a huge wave of new and inexperienced bettors into the market. Operators that deliver simple onboarding, strong pre-match insight and personalised content will be best positioned to capture and engage this audience.”

Axquring said customers come with their own challenges, however. Marketing is going to be a big task for a lot of European firms next year due to heavier tax burdens – Evoke, Flutter Entertainment and Entain have all said that their UK marketing budgets will drop next year due to the increase in online gaming tax from April 2026.

Also, in a difficult political environment in which the industry has many opponents, when acquiring new customers firms should keep player protection, player education and responsible gaming at the highest possible level.