World Cup Betting Odds 2026 (Updated Odds Daily)

Group odds: Who wins, who qualifies, and who will be second

Before the knockouts come the groups, and that’s where plenty of punters find their early value. From the runaway favourites to the tight three-way battles, here are the latest odds on who wins each group and who makes it through to the Round of 32, broken down group by group.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

Group I

Group J

Group K

Group L

📊 Understanding World Cup odds

Odds are a numerical representation of how likely a bookmaker believes an outcome is. They tell you two things: your potential return, and the implied probability of the selection winning. UK bookmakers display odds in two formats, and most apps let you switch between them in the settings.

Fractional vs decimal odds

Fractional odds (e.g. 5/1) are the traditional UK format and show your profit relative to your stake: at 5/1, a £10 bet returns £50 profit plus your £10 stake back, for £60 in total. Decimal odds (e.g. 6.0) show your total return per £1 staked, stake included: 6.0 means a £10 bet returns £60. The two are just different ways of writing the same price – 5/1 is the same as 6.0.

Implied probability

Every price carries an implied probability. A selection at 5/1 implies roughly a 17% chance of winning, while a short-priced favourite at 1/2 implies around 67%. Working out the implied probability is the quickest way to judge whether a price represents value: if you think a team’s true chance is higher than the odds imply, the bet is worth considering.

Why odds move during a tournament

World Cup odds are not fixed. They shift in response to injuries, suspensions, squad announcements, results and sheer weight of money from other punters. A contender’s price can shorten dramatically after an impressive opening win, or drift after a defeat or a key injury.

🎯 What can you bet on? World Cup 2026 markets explained

One of the appeals of a World Cup is the sheer breadth of markets. Some run for the length of the tournament, others are settled in a single match. Here are the main ones you will come across.

Outright winner

The headline market: you back the nation you believe will lift the trophy. It settles only when the tournament is over, so an outright bet placed before kick-off rides with you all the way to the final in July. Prices shorten as contenders progress, so backing a team early can lock in a bigger price than waiting.

To reach the final & stage of elimination

If backing a team to win it all feels like a stretch, “to reach the final” lets you bet on a side making the showpiece regardless of whether they win it.

The “stage of elimination” market goes further, asking you to predict exactly how far a team will go – group stage, round of 32, round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final, runner-up or winner. It is a useful way to back a side you fancy to overperform or underperform without having to nail the exact outcome.

Group winner & to qualify

The “group winner” market asks you to pick which of the four teams will finish top of a given group, while “to qualify” simply requires a team to reach the knockout stage.

With 12 groups at World Cup 2026, group winner is one of the most popular ways to bet on the tournament. Bear in mind the 48-team format (see below) has made “to qualify” short for the bigger nations, so group winner often offers more meaningful odds on the favourites.

Top goalscorer & player awards

The Golden Boot, awarded to the tournament’s top scorer, is the most popular player market. You can also bet on the Golden Ball (best overall player), the Golden Glove (best goalkeeper) and the Best Young Player award. These settle across the whole tournament and reward backing a player you expect to feature deep into the knockouts.

Match markets

For individual games, the most common markets are:

• Match result (1X2): home win, draw or away win. Remember football has three outcomes – unlike many sports, the draw is a genuine option, and a “to win” bet loses if the game is level.
• Both teams to score (BTTS): a simple yes/no on whether both sides find the net.
• Over/Under goals: betting on the total number of goals being above or below a line, most commonly Over/Under 2.5.
• Correct score: predicting the exact scoreline – high risk, high reward.
• Double chance & Draw No Bet: safer alternatives that cover two outcomes, or return your stake if the match is drawn.

Player props, cards & corners

Beyond the result, bookmakers price up dozens of in-game markets: anytime and first goalscorer, shots and shots on target, player and team bookings, total cards, corners and more. These are where bet builders (below) come into their own.

Bet builders & same-game multis

A bet builder lets you combine several markets from the same match into a single wager, with the odds multiplying together for a bigger potential return.

For example, you might pair a team to win, Over 2.5 goals and a forward to score anytime, all in one bet. Every leg has to land for the bet to win, so the more you add, the longer the odds and the lower the chance of success.

Accumulators

An accumulator combines selections across different matches into one bet. With 104 games to choose from, accas are hugely popular at a World Cup – string together a handful of group winners or match results and the potential payout grows quickly. As with bet builders, every selection must win, so the probability compounds with each leg you add. The stats below are worth a look before you build one.

In-play (live) betting

In-play betting lets you bet during a match, with the odds updating constantly in response to the action. It opens up opportunities a pre-match bet cannot – we cover some specific in-play tactics for the group stage further down.

💰 How to place a World Cup bet, step by step

Placing a bet on World Cup 2026 could not be easier. Here is the process from start to finish:

1. Choose a UKGC-licensed bookmaker. Every official UK sportsbook is offering odds on the tournament. It is worth comparing sign-up offers first – see our World Cup betting offers page for the latest free bets and price boosts.
2. Sign up and deposit. Register an account, complete the verification checks and deposit some money to get started.
3. Find the World Cup. Navigate to the football section and select World Cup 2026, then choose the match or tournament market you want.
4. Add your selection to the bet slip. Tap the odds next to your pick and it will drop into your bet slip.
5. Enter your stake and confirm. Type in how much you want to bet, check the potential return the slip shows you, then place the bet.

Worked example – placing an outright bet: say you fancy Spain to win the tournament. Go to the outright winner market, select Spain, and they drop into your bet slip at their current price. Stake £10 at, for illustration, 5/1, and the slip will show a potential return of £60 (£50 profit plus your £10 stake). The bet then settles at the end of the final.

⚖️ Settlement rules to know before you bet

A few rules trip up newcomers, so it is worth knowing how markets settle before you stake:

• 90 minutes plus stoppage time. Most match markets – match result, BTTS, Over/Under, goalscorers – settle on regulation time only. Extra time and penalties do not count unless the market explicitly says so. This matters most in the knockout rounds, where a team can win on penalties yet your “to win” bet still loses.
• The draw is a real outcome. Group-stage and regulation-time games can finish level, and a draw is a main option in the match-result market. If you back a team to win and the game is drawn, the bet loses.
• “To qualify” and “to advance” include everything. Unlike the match-result market, knockout “to qualify/advance” bets usually settle on who actually progresses – so they do include extra time and penalties.
• Draw No Bet returns your stake if the match is drawn, a useful safety net in tight games.

 Vital stats for acca builders

With 104 games scheduled between 11th June and 19th July, World Cup 2026 provides ample betting opportunities, and accumulators are especially popular as a result. We have crunched the numbers using World Cup 2022 in Qatar as the benchmark to provide some useful reference points for acca builders. Bear in mind the nature of the expanded 2026 tournament could induce a change in approach from several sides, but these base rates are a sensible starting point:

• Average goals: 2.69 per game
• Over 1.5 goals: 73.4% hit rate
• Both teams to score: 46% hit rate
• Second-half goals: 61% of all goals scored after the break
• Yellow cards: 3.55 per game
• Total red cards: 4 across the tournament
• Goals in the first 10 minutes: 12
• Goals in the last 10 minutes: 33

The takeaway for acca builders: Over 1.5 goals is a far more reliable building block than Over 2.5 or both teams to score, both of which carry more variance than punters tend to expect.

Will there be any upsets?

There have already been a few! Cape Verde and Curaçao, as two of three smallest nations ever to qualify for a World Cup, have produced three huge shocks in their respective groups.

The African side, who topped a qualifying section ahead of Cameroon, held European Champions Spain to a goalless draw in their first ever game at the tournament, and backed that up with a stunning 2-2 draw with Uruguay which – on another day – they might’ve won.

The Caribbean islanders, meanwhile, showed great resolve in coming back from a sobering 7-1 defeat to Germany and held Ecuador to a 0-0 draw. Goalkeeper Eloy Room made history in making a record 15 saves to thwart the South Americans in that one!

While it made not have made headlines to the same extent, DR Congo frustrated Portugal – and Cristiano Ronaldo – in their opener too. It’s only the second time the Africans have qualified, and the first time under the name DR Congo – they were known as Zaire back in 1974.

With 48 teams and a brand-new Round of 32, we’re bound to see more as the newly-expanded tournament plays out. The format will see the majority of the third place teams in the group stages sneaking through, so a team many wrote off before a ball was kicked could still be standing in the Round of 16.

For punters, that unpredictability is the appeal. The favourites are favourites for a reason, but if the last few tournaments have taught us anything, it’s that the World Cup always finds a way to surprise. Backing an outsider to spring a group-stage shock, or an underdog to reach the latter rounds, is where some of the tournament’s best value tends to hide.

Biggest World Cup shocks in modern times

The World Cup has never been short of moments that turned the form book upside down. The bigger the favourite, the sweeter the fall – and recent tournaments have delivered some of the most spectacular shocks in the competition’s history.

Senegal 1-0 France (2002) – Reigning world champions France, with Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry et al, were beaten by the tournament debutants in the opening game and crashed out at the group stage without scoring a single goal.

Brazil 1-7 Germany (2014) – Not an underdog story, but arguably the most stunning scoreline ever. Host nation Brazil were dismantled in their own semi-final, four goals down inside 29 minutes in front of a stunned home crowd.

Germany 0-2 South Korea (2018) – The defending champions became the latest holders to fall at the first hurdle, dumped out in the group stage by South Korea in one of the great giant-killings.

Saudi Arabia 2-1 Argentina (2022) – Lionel Messi’s side, who would go on to lift the trophy weeks later, were beaten in their opener by a Saudi team ranked 51st in the world. The eventual champions losing their first game made it all the more remarkable.

Japan’s double (2022) – The Samurai Blue beat both Germany and Spain to top a group of heavyweights, coming from behind in both fixtures.

Morocco’s run to the semis (2022) – The Atlas Lions became the first African and first Arab nation to reach a World Cup semi-final, knocking out Spain and Portugal along the way.

And the shocks aren’t only on the pitch: Italy, four-time winners, have now failed to qualify for three tournaments in a row, missing 2026 after losing to Bosnia and Herzegovina in a playoff.

Does England have a shot at winning?

England arrive in North America as one of the genuine favourites to win the 2026 World Cup, sitting just behind France and Spain at the top of the market and level with Argentina in the chasing pack. For UK punters, that puts the Three Lions firmly in the conversation rather than as hopeful outsiders, and the draw has been kind.

The route is about as favourable as England could have wished for. They go in as strong favourites to win Group L ahead of Croatia, who they defeated in matchday one, plus Ghana and Panama, and the bookies rate them among the safer bets to reach the quarter-finals. From there, the odds still lean their way to reach the semis and go all the way to the final, a price ladder that reflects a side expected to go deep rather than flatter to deceive.

Up front, England have arguably the most reliable finisher in the tournament. Harry Kane comes in off the most prolific season of his career, 61 goals in 51 appearances for Bayern Munich, and is England’s all-time leading scorer as well as the team’s penalty taker.

He’s among the leading fancies for the Golden Boot, and with Thomas Tuchel having built the attack around him, England’s outright chances and Kane’s individual markets are closely linked. Add in back-to-back European Championship final appearances in 2021 and 2024, and this is a squad with real tournament pedigree behind it.

FAQ

What are the shortest odds to win the 2026 World Cup?

France are the shortest price at 4/1, followed by Spain at 5/1. England and Argentina are next at 13/2, then Portugal at 11/1 and Brazil and Germany at 12/1.

What are the best value outsiders in the outright market?

Among the mid-priced teams, Belgium and Colombia (both 50/1) and Switzerland and Croatia (both 100/1) stand out as sides with the squad depth to outperform their odds. Norway at 33/1 also catch the eye given they’re as short as 3/1 to win their group.

Who is favourite for the Golden Boot and at what odds?

Kylian Mbappé leads at 11/2, with Harry Kane at 13/2. Lionel Messi is 12/1, while Erling Haaland and Lamine Yamal are both 14/1.

What odds are Harry Kane to be top scorer?

Harry Kane is 13/2 for the Golden Boot, second only to Mbappé and the shortest-priced England player in the market.

Which group is the hardest to call on odds?

Group G is the tightest at the top, with Egypt (20/37), Iran (47/20) and Belgium (47/20) closely matched to win it. Group B is also competitive once you look past the favourites, with Bosnia and Herzegovina at 30/1 to win and 7/2 to qualify.

Where can I find tips and predictions for the 2026 World Cup?

Odds tell you what the bookies think, but they don’t tell you where the value is. For match-by-match analysis, best bets and outright predictions, see our 2026 World Cup tips and predictions, updated throughout the tournament as the picture changes from the group stage to the knockouts.

What betting offers are available for the 2026 World Cup?

Most UKGC-licensed bookmakers are running enhanced odds, free bets and acca boosts to mark the tournament. To make the most of the prices on this page, check our roundup of the latest World Cup betting offers and free bets before placing your bets, so you’re claiming the best welcome offers and ongoing promotions available.

Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to talkSPORT. 18+. T&Cs apply.

Remember to gamble responsibly

A responsible gambler is someone who:

• Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
• Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
• Never chase their losses
• Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
• Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk

Find our detailed guide on responsible gambling practices here.

For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www.gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.