Expanded 2026 World Cup could drive record $50 billion in bets

The enlarged 2026 World Cup is set to become a betting event on a scale no previous tournament has matched. Analysts cited by CNBC say global wagers could top $50 billion, up from more than $35 billion in Qatar in 2022, as 48 teams play 104 matches across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The surge reflects simple volume. FIFA’s expanded format adds 40 matches to the 2022 tournament, and the competition will run from June 11 through the final on July 19. CNBC said it will be the first World Cup to test the U.S. sports-wagering market at full scale, opening the door for sportsbooks, prediction markets and sports-data firms that depend on live betting interest.

H2 Gambling Capital is even more aggressive, projecting about $60 billion wagered through legal sportsbooks worldwide. That estimate would be 71% higher than H2’s 2022 figure and 185% above 2018, but H2 also warned that more games do not automatically translate into proportionately more betting. About 60% of the additional fixtures are in the group stage, where engagement is typically lower, and H2’s legal totals exclude illegal and unregulated markets.

That gap matters because the true economic footprint extends beyond licensed operators. In the United States, the event is expected to draw fresh handle into legal apps and betting products, but offshore books and informal pools will also capture a share of the action. For operators, the monthlong tournament offers a rare chance to convert casual viewers into repeat customers. For regulators, it raises the stakes on advertising, integrity monitoring and addiction safeguards.

The public-health concerns are not abstract. University of Sheffield research on the 2022 World Cup found betting activity among men aged 18 to 44 rose 16% to 24% when gambling ads were shown, and viewers were up to 33% more likely to place bets when ads were present than when they were not. The UK Gambling Commission has called the men’s World Cup the most significant event in the sporting and betting cycle, and it has found that some people who had not bet on football in the previous 12 months placed sports bets after the tournament.

That combination of mass exposure and easy wagering is why the 2026 tournament looms so large for both profit and risk. Flutter Entertainment, Genius Sports and Sportradar are among the companies positioned to benefit from the betting rush, but the bigger the market gets, the more pressure it puts on leagues and regulators to police promotion, match integrity and addiction harm across a tournament stretching from Mexico City and East Rutherford, New Jersey, to Canada’s host cities.