Hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, the 2026 World Cup will generate plenty of activity in the online betting industry.
There will be a huge uptick in wagering in Canada, where the sports betting apps featured on comparison website bettingtop10.ca are already offering a vasty array of World Cup markets. Betting is hugely popular in Canada, and punters will be clamouring to wager on the tournament.
Operators of betting apps will be eager to capitalise, which will result in bettors having a wide range of bonuses and promotions available to them. Given the number of betting apps in the Canadian market, punters are guaranteed to be spoilt for choice when it comes to odds and markets.
With that in mind, read on as we assess why the 2026 World Cup is expected to be the biggest global betting event ever staged.
A World Cup Designed for Record-Breaking Growth
With FIFA expanding the tournament to accommodate 48 teams, fans will spend more money on bets than ever before.
Experts believe that over $150 billion will be wagered from both local and international markets, and that’s down to the revised size of the tournament.
With 16 teams added to the mix, there will now be 104 fixtures at the World Cup rather than 64, which paves the way for more people to place bets.
Every extra fixture gives fans more options to bet on, including long-term wagers such as the outright market, which will keep bettors engaged throughout the tournament.
The online betting industry has been growing at a steady pace for years, with experts claiming that the sector grows by more than 10 percent every year. This growth accelerates even further during World Cup year.
It is worth noting that those figures usually combine sports betting and casino gaming, but it also shows that football’s influence spreads into other parts of the gambling industry.
Betting volumes have increased since legal sports betting started spreading across the United States.
Nearly $150bn worth of bets were placed legally in the US, and that doesn’t include platforms managed by offshore operators or crypto-based sites.
When you consider the fact that there are several crypto gambling enthusiasts among tech-savvy Americans, it becomes clear that the total is more than likely much larger.
First-Time Bettors Will Jump on the World Cup Bandwagon
Millions of people are planning to place bets during the 2026 World Cup, even though they don’t really understand how betting works.
Research shows that about seven out of every 10 fans in the United Kingdom, the US and Latin America expect to bet during the tournament. However, only a fraction feel confident that they know what they are doing. What’s more interesting is that many of these people will be betting for the first time, and they’re only getting in on the action because of the excitement around the World Cup.
But this wave of first-time bettors could have a significant impact on the betting industry. They are more likely to lean towards platforms that are easy to use and also want easy explanations, simple choices, and help understanding how everything works without feeling overwhelmed.
This creates an incentive for betting companies to take a second look at their platforms. If they want to capitalise on the wave of new bettors entering the market, they will need to simplify their platforms and provide a step-by-step guide on how to set up their account.
They also need to explain how things work rather than relying solely on aggressive promotions.
A Bigger Tournament with a Wider Impact on the Industry
The 2026 World Cup will likely change the betting industry in ways that go beyond the financial side of things.
The expanded format means the tournament will last longer and games will be played almost every day for six weeks between June 11 and July 19.
The slight tweak in the format will benefit betting companies by helping them keep fans engaged instead of going through the rollercoaster of previous editions.
Betting interest previously increased during the big games and then drop off, with fans paying more attention to the top teams in the tournament.
However, the new format will help to make sure that fans are as interested in group stage games as they naturally are during the knockout phase.
The expanded tournament also opens the door for nations which normally don’t qualify to rub shoulders with the best teams in the world.
That creates a different narrative that betting companies will feed on this summer to keep engagement high throughout the competition, rather than just at the beginning or the end.
With more teams involved, there will be more emotionally invested national fan bases, which often leads to more betting activity.
