World Cup 2026 Main betting markets

The most popular betting markets for the 2026 World Cup

Everyone has a different betting style, everyone is interested in different types of things and so there is no one bet type that fits all. The bets that you should place are the ones that are right for you, and you alone.

Popular Long term betting (or outright) markets

Betting on the World Cup does not have to be done game by game but instead you can bet on long term markets which are the culmination of several individual games. One example of this might be who will win a group, will a team win (or lose) all their games, as well as the more obvious “Who will win the tournament”.

The two most popular long term bets for past World Cups have been:

• Tournament Winner - Who will lift the trophy as the World Cup winning team
• Top Goalscorer - Who will score the most goals in the tournament (not including penalties at the end of extra time).

Popular Match markets

Each individual match will have an abundance of variables for you to bet on. Some of the most common are:

• Match Odds (1x2) - What will the result be, either which team will win or a draw
• Correct Score - What will the score be at the final whistle
• First Goalscorer - Who will score the first goal of the game
• Anytime Scorer - Will a player score at anytime in the match
• Over / Under Goals - Will the total score total more or fewer goals than the set total (usually 2.5)
• Asian Handicap Bets - These bets give a set number of goals advantage to one team at kick off,  so the other team must not just win but win by more than the handicap amount.
• Half Time / Full Time - What will the result of the match be at both half time and at the final whistle

Popular In-Play bets

It is possible at virtually all bookmakers these days to also bet on games as they are taking place, this is known as “live” or “in-play” betting.

These bets can be on the results at the end of the game but are more likely to include things such as:

➡️ Who will score the next goal
➡️ A goal scored in the next 10 minutes
➡️ A corner taken in the next 5 minutes
➡️ A player to have a shot on target before half time

These markets usually settle before the final whistle, which means a far quicker turn around for your money and are popular because of the quicker wait time for a win.

Popular Perm or Acca bets

Not a “bet type” as such but a type of betting, accumulators or multiple bets are a way of combining many different results into one bet. Then the odds are all combined which can lead to some pretty high payouts for things that are likely to happen, if they all happen. The most common is the traditional Acca where you just pick anything between 1 and usually 10 events (it can be higher) and if they all come in you win the jackpot, if just one does not then you return nothing.

A few of the most popular Acca types are:

• Double - Two selections and both must win
• Treble - Three selections and all must win
• Fourfold Acca - Four selections and all must win
• Trixie - Three selections, Four bets (Two Doubles and a Treble)
• Patent - Three selections, Seven bets (One Treble, Three Doubles, Three Singles)
• Yankee - Four selections, Eleven bets (Six Doubles, Four Trebles and a Fourfold)
• Canadian - Five selections, Twenty Six bets (Ten Doubles, Ten Trebles, Five Fourfolds and One Fivefold)
• Heinz -  Six selections, Fifty Seven bets (Fifteen Doubles, Twenty Trebles, Fifteen Fourfolds, Six Fivefolds and One Sixfold)
• Super Heinz -  Seven selections, One Hundred and Twenty bets (Twenty One Doubles, Thirty Five Trebles, Thirty Five Fourfolds, Twenty One Fivefolds, Seven Sixfolds and One Sevenfold.
• Goliath - Eight selections, Two Hundred and Forty Seven bets (Twenty Eight Doubles, Fifty Six Trebles, Seventy Fourfolds, Fifty Six Fivefolds, Twenty Eight Sixfolds, Eight Sevenfolds and one Eightfold).

World Cup 2026 Special Bets

There is a lot of conflicting data online about just what qualifies as a special bet. Truth be told each bookmaker is free to label anything they want in this category there is no set rule but for us it is bets on things related to the game but not connected to the result.

Examples of this might be:

• Time of the first corner
• Number of corners
• Total number of points on the shirts of players who score
• What colour will the goalkeepers boots be
• What will the official attendance at the game be

All of these and more would qualify as special bets. Special bets can also be long run bets over the whole tournament, such as will a record number of goals be scored, yes or no. As we said before, the definition we like to use for “Special” bets is that is is a bet not contingent on the actual result of the game.

World Cup 2026 Golden Boot Winner

This is also sometimes known as the top goalscorer but there is a nuanced difference between the two. Often the result is exactly the same but not always because the top goalscorer simply counts how many goals have been scored in a tournament but if two people have the same number then they both win and the award is shared. The winner of the Golden Boot is decided by the number of assists and other criteria if the goals scored is equal until there is only one winner.

Tips for picking the World Cup Top Goalscorer

There are a few key things to take into account when looking for the tournaments top goalscorer and we will list and explain them for you now:

➤ Quality team
The first one is intuitively obvious, the better the team the more goals that team will score and the more goals that a team score the more chance there is that your chosen player will be amongst them. It is also logical to assume that the better teams will proceed further in the tournament, and the more games a player is involved in then the more opportunity there is to score.

The inverse is also true, even though a striker might be incredible quality, if the team he is in will not go that far then he only has three games to score compared to eight games for those who make the final. Erling Haaland playing in the Norwegian team would be an example of this.

➤ Penalty Taker
Extra attention should be paid to any player who is that teams nominated penalty taker. Penalties scored during the normal 90 minutes of play count just the same as any other goal and can be a great foundation to a strikers total tally.

➤ Poor quality group
If there is a group with two or more poor quality teams then there is the possibility that these games could have 5 or 6 or even more goals scored. These games have the same expected goal value as maybe two or more other evenly matched games. If you have a striker who will be on the dominant team in one of these games then that is a big positive.

➤ All round player
The Golden boot is decided not just on how many of goals are scored, which is often a very tight race. If there is a tie, two people having the same number of goals scored, then it is judged based on assists. If you have a player known for setting up others as well as scoring themselves, that can be worth an extra goal in the event of a tie.

Favorites to be World Cup 2026 top scorer

The above are good guidelines to follow when trying to narrow down a potential top goalscorer bet. Using these criteria we can narrow down to a top three:

⭐ Kylian Mbappe (France)

As the current holder of the Golden Boot from the World Cup in Qatar (with eight goals), it is no surprise that bookmakers have priced him to be the favourite. He is a penalty taker,  France are expected to go far in the tournament and he often gives assists and takes free kicks. A small question mark here is the group that has no “easy” team for him to face but still, he is in with a great chance of making two trophies in a row.

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Top Scorer Kylian Mbappe

7

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⭐ Harry Kane (England)

A big positive is the group that England find themselves in because last time England and Panama came head to head at a World Cup England scored five goals before half time and the Panama manager asked them to calm down!. Kane got a hat trick then and should be able to easily find goals this time too, also with Ghana being just a little harder, only Croatia will be a struggle. England are expected to go far giving him plenty of games to score in during the later stages and remember he takes penalties.

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Top Scorer Harry Kane

8

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⭐ Lionel Messi (Argentina)

He is arguably the player that has the most skill and he is definitely the best free kick taker of the three on this list so why are his odds the highest? Well it is because age matters in such a big tournament and because the Argentinian team as a whole is in a bad shape right now. There are no obviously “easy” games and it is unclear how many games he will get to have a chance to score in.

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Top Scorer Lionel Messi

13

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