Betting activity during the 2026 FIFA World Cup increased by 80% compared with the 2022 tournament, according to Sportradar, as the expanded competition generated record engagement across its global bookmaker network.
Darren Small, SVP of Managed Trading Services at Sportradar, said the increase reflected both the additional matches created by the move from 32 to 48 teams and continued growth across the wider sports betting market.
The tournament featured 104 matches, compared with 64 in Qatar four years earlier. However, Sportradar said betting volumes remained ahead of its expectations even after accounting for the larger schedule.
“We have seen an 80% increase in the ticket volume,” Small said. “So we are seeing more bets and more active customers.”
Before the tournament, Macquarie forecast that global World Cup wagers would exceed US$50bn, compared with an estimated $35bn in 2022. The projection was based on average betting activity of approximately $500m across each of the 104 matches.
No final market wide betting total has yet been published. Sportradar’s reported 80 percent increase relates to the number of betting tickets processed for its bookmaker clients rather than the total monetary value wagered worldwide.
Small said comparisons with 2022 were further complicated by the Qatar tournament taking place during November and December rather than the traditional summer period.
Sportradar expected to process approximately 8.5 million betting tickets across 250 bookmaker clients for the final between Spain and defending champions Argentina.
England generated the highest betting interest during the tournament, attracting approximately 16.3 million tickets despite being eliminated by Argentina in the semi final.
France followed with 15.5 million, ahead of Argentina with 15 million and Spain with 14.5 million. The figures placed all four semi finalists at the top of Sportradar’s betting activity rankings.
The results provide a commercial endorsement of FIFA’s decision to enlarge the competition. Operators and suppliers had anticipated higher volumes because of the additional fixtures, but concerns remained that matches involving less established football nations could produce predictable results and weaker customer engagement.
David Stevens, head of public relations at Coral, said those concerns had largely been eased by a group stage that produced competitive matches and several unexpected results.
“Our fear was there would be a large proportion of predictable results, with the so called smaller nations offering little or no resistance to their established rivals,” Stevens said.
“But in the event, that was not the case at all. Throughout the group stage there were plenty of matches where the result did not go according to the betting.”
Cape Verde was among the teams to attract attention after holding Argentina and Spain to draws before losing 3 to 2 against Argentina following extra time in the round of 32.
The broader range of teams and fixtures also gave operators more opportunities to offer match, player and in play markets throughout the competition. Betting activity was therefore spread across a longer schedule rather than being concentrated around the leading nations and later knockout rounds.
The performance will strengthen the commercial case for retaining the 48 team structure, although the betting industry appears less convinced by suggestions that FIFA could eventually expand the World Cup to 64 teams.
Stevens warned that a further increase could result in too many matches and eventually weaken interest among supporters and betting customers.
“Would we welcome an even bigger World Cup in four years? No is the simple answer,” he said.
“There has to be a point at which fans and punters alike switch off as a result of too many games, and 64 teams feels very much like that point.”
For operators, the more important question will be whether the customer acquisition and engagement achieved during the World Cup can be converted into sustainable activity after the tournament.
The expanded format delivered the additional betting volume anticipated from a longer schedule. Its longer term commercial value will depend on how effectively operators retain those customers once football’s largest event is over.
