The 2026 World Cup has officially become the largest gambling event in human history.

Global betting turnover is projected to exceed $60 billion, up 71% from the $35 billion of the 2022 Qatar World Cup. This isn’t a small number—this is money wagered worldwide on a single sport within a month.
🧵 Why this edition is set to break records:
1/ Expanded format
48 teams, 104 matches—40 more than the previous edition. Each additional match means one more opportunity to bet. More group-stage games, more upsets, and more parlay combinations. A dream format for sportsbook operators.
2/ Full opening in the U.S. market
In the 2022 World Cup, only 40% of the U.S. population could legally place bets. Now it’s 65%. FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM are all sharpening their knives. Deutsche Bank estimates that the U.S. market alone has a $3.3 billion handle.
3/ Time-zone advantage
The matches are held in North America, and the time zones are extremely friendly to viewers in Europe and the U.S. You no longer need to wake up in the middle of the night to watch—you can watch during the day and bet as you go. Live betting is expected to grow explosively.
4/ Rise of prediction markets
Kalshi + Polymarket’s weekly trading volume has already hit a historical high above $7 billion. Kalshi has opened nearly 500 World Cup-related markets. This is no longer just traditional sports betting—financialized prediction markets are eating into market share.
5/ Country data
- China: weekly sports lottery football sales exceed 60B RMB; full-tournament estimate exceeds 6 billion RMB
- Taiwan: after the group stage ended, sales have already surpassed NT$4 billion
- United States: projected $3.3 billion handle
- Global: over $50–60 billion
6/ Who’s making money?
Flutter (FanDuel’s parent company) is expected to capture $1.3 billion in the U.S. handle. DraftKings’ May trading volume increased 34% month over month, and its stock price rose 11% on the day. Sportradar just signed an agreement with Kalshi to provide football data. The person selling the shovels always wins.
7/ Risk side
For this edition, the betting options Caesars provides are 10 times those of 2022. Multiple matches every day for a month—addiction risk is extremely high. The founder of Gamban said bluntly: “For the gambling industry, the World Cup is the steroid version of March Madness.”
Conclusion: With 15.1B people watching the matches, 65% of Americans able to bet legally, and prediction market trading hitting record highs—$60 billion is only a conservative estimate. Sports betting is experiencing its iPhone moment.