2022 FIFA World Cup betting sites

The FIFA World Cup is the biggest betting event in all of sport. Bookmakers take billions of bets whenever the finals roll around, and it will be no different for Qatar 2022. Let us show you all there is to know about betting on World Cup football, including which bookmakers are best for gamblers in United States.

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2022 World Cup outright odds

Five-time winners Brazil and defending champions Germany head to Russia 2018 as favourites for the title. European heavyweights France and Spain are also well backed, with Argentina and Belgium not far behind.

See more odds at Bovada

Best bookmakers for World Cup odds

Online bookmakers experience a massive boom whenever the World Cup is on. We recommend the soccer betting sites below because they are licensed and regulated, offer great odds across thousands of markets and accept gamblers from United States.

Best World Cup bookmakers

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How to bet on World Cup football

World Cup bookmakers run hundreds of different betting markets for matches, groups, propositions and future results. Open the tabs below to find out more.

• Match betting
  There are three standard bets for every World Cup game: Team A to win, Team B to win, or the match to end in a draw. Whichever team offers the lowest odds is the favourite.
  
• Handicap betting
  Handicap bets level out the odds when one team is heavily backed to beat the other. This is done by giving the outsider a head start of one or more goals, meaning the favourite must overcome that margin in order to beat the handicap. For example: if Brazil have a +2.0 handicap, the bet only pays if they win by two or more goals.
  
• Correct score betting
  Correct score bets offer excellent odds, but mostly because they are difficult to pick. For example: if we back Spain to win 3-0, the bet only pays if they score exactly three goals and concede exactly none.
  
• Goalscorer betting
  First goalscorer is one of the most popular player props on offer, but bookies also run markets for last goalscorer, anytime goalscorer, braces, hat-tricks, and any number of special bets.
  
• Half betting
  Many match bets are also available for the first half and the second half in isolation. Instead of betting on the end result of a game between Germany and Mexico, for instance, we can instead wager that the score will be 0-0 at half-time.
  
• Match doubles
  Double bets offer big odds for backing two outcomes at once. Popular markets include half-time/full-time result, total goals/match result and first goalscorer/match result.
  
• Props and exotics
  You can bet on just about every aspect of a World Cup game. Football exotics cover hundreds of separate outcomes within a match, including the number of corner kicks won, the number of yellow cards shown and whether any penalties are awarded.
  
• Futures and outrights
  World Cup outright markets are available within days of the previous tournament’s conclusion. Besides title betting, bookies offer futures odds on group winners, stage of elimination, top tournament goalscorer and player of the tournament.
  

About the Fifa World Cup

The FIFA World Cup was first staged in 1930. Until then, the Olympics were considered the international championships of association football. Hosting rights for the maiden tournament were awarded to Uruguay, who had won the gold medal at Amsterdam 1928. Only 13 nations made the trip to Montevideo, where the Uruguayans defeated Argentina in the final to win the inaugural World Cup.

The 1934 World Cup in Italy was the first where teams had to qualify. Out of 32 participating nations, 16 reached the finals tournament. Not among them were Uruguay, who boycotted the event because only four European teams had travelled to South America in 1930. The Italians won on home soil, but the tournament was marred by allegations of severe corruption on the part of Benito Mussolini’s fascist dictatorship.

The next World Cup was an even more fractious affair. Instead of returning to South America, the 1938 tournament was held in France. That decision led to the withdrawal of both Argentina and Uruguay, then two of the world’s strongest football teams. Spain could not compete because of the Spanish Civil War, while Austria pulled out after the nation was annexed by Nazi Germany. Brazil, Cuba and the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) were the only non-European teams in attendance as Italy defended their title.

After a 12-year hiatus due to World War II, the World Cup was reborn in Brazil in 1950. The tournament has taken place every four years since then, gradually expanding to include more and more teams from all over the world. The finals field grew from 16 to 24 for Spain 1982, and then to 32 teams for France 1998 and beyond.

World Cup records and stats

• World Cup winners
  Eight different nations have won the World Cup, and six of those have done it on multiple occasions. Of the 20 World Cups staged from 1930 to 2014, the host nations have won six. Brazil and Spain are the only two winners who have never managed the feat on home soil.

  Brazil	1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002
  Germany	1954, 1974, 1990, 2014
  Italy	1934, 1938, 1982, 2006
  Uruguay	1930, 1950
  Argentina	1978, 1986
  France	1998, 2018
  England	1966
  Spain	2010

• World Cup goalscorers
  Only a handful of players have scored more than 10 goals at the World Cup. France’s Just Fontaine holds the record for most goals at a single tournament, having netted 13 times in six outings at Switzerland 1954.

  Miroslav Klose (Germany)	16 goals, 24 games
  Ronaldo (Brazil)	15 goals, 19 games
  Gerd Muller (West Germany)	14 goals, 13 games
  Just Fontaine (France)	13 goals, six games
  Pele (Brazil)	12 goals, 14 games
  Sandor Kocsis (Hungary)	11 goals, five games
  Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany)	11 goals, 17 games

• World Cup appearances
  In 2018, Mexico’s Rafael Marquez joined fellow countryman Antonio Carbajal and German legend Lothar Matthaus as one of only three to have played in five World Cups. Long-serving Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon also attended five finals tournaments, but he did not take the field at France 1998.

  Only six players have appeared in more than 20 matches at the World Cup:

  Lothar Matthaus (Germany)	25 matches, 1982-1988
  Miroslav Klose (Germany)	24 matches, 2002-2014
  Paolo Maldini (Italy)	23 matches, 1988-2000
  Uwe Seeler (West Germany)	21 matches, 1958-1970
  Diego Maradona (Argentina)	21 matches, 1978-1994
  Wladyslaw Zmuda (Poland)	21 matches, 1974-1986

• Golden Ball winners
  Since Spain 1982, the Adidas Golden Ball is awarded to the standout player of the World Cup finals tournament. A Silver Ball and Bronze Ball are also given to the runner-up and third-placed candidates.

  Spain 1982
  Paolo Rossi (Italy)
  Falcao (Brazil)
  Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany)

  Mexico 1986
  Diego Maradona (Argentina)
  Harald Schumacher (West Germany)
  Preben Elkjaer Larsen (Denmark)

  Italy 1990
  Salvatore Schillaci (Italy)
  Lothar Matthaus (Germany)
  Diego Maradona (Argentina)

  USA 1994
  Romario (Brazil)
  Roberto Baggio (Italy)
  Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)

  France 1998
  Ronaldo (Brazil)
  Davor Suker (Croatia)
  Lillian Thuram (France)

  Japan/Korea 2002
  Oliver Kahn (Germany)
  Ronaldo (Brazil)
  Hong Myung-bo (South Korea)

  Germany 2006
  Zinedine Zidane (France)
  Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)
  Andre Pirlo (Italy)

  South Africa 2010
  Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
  Wesley Snijder (Netherlands)
  David Villa (Spain)

  Brazil 2014
  Lionel Messi (Argentina)
  Thomas Muller (Germany)
  Arjen Robben (Netherlands)

  Russia 2018
  Luka Modric (Croatia)
  Eden Hazard (Belgium)
  Antoine Griezmann (France)

• Golden Boot winners
  The Golden Boot, formerly the Golden Shoe, is given to the top-scoring player at the World Cup. Although the accolade was introduced in 1982, all top-scorers dating back to 1930 are loosely referred to as Golden Boot winners. As per the Golden Ball, silver and bronze are awarded for second and third place.

  Uruguay 1930
  Guillermo Stabile (Argentina) – eight goals
  Pedro Cea (Uruguay) – five goals
  Bert Patenaude (USA) – four goals

  Italy 1934
  Oldrich Nejedly (Czechoslovakia) – five goals
  Edmund Conen (Germany), Angelo Schiavio (Italy) – four goals

  France 1938
  Leonidas (Brazil) – seven goals
  Gyorgy Sarosi (Hungary), Gyula Zsengeller (Hungary), Silvio Piola (Italy) – five goals

  Brazil 1950
  Admeir (Brazil) – eight goals
  Oscar Miguez (Uruguay) – five goals
  Alcides Ghiggia (Uruguay), Chico (Brazil), Estanislau Basora (Spain), Telmo Zarra (Spain) – four goals

  Switzerland 1954
  Sandor Kocsis (Hungary) – 11 goals
  Josef Hugi (Switzerland), Max Morlock (West Germany), Erich Probst (Austria) – six goals

  Sweden 1958
  Just Fontaine (France) – 13 goals
  Pele (Brazil), Helmut Rahn (West Germany) – six goals

  Chile 1962
  Florian Albert (Hungary), Valentin Ivanov (USSR), Garrincha (Brazil), Vava (Brazil), Drazan Jerkovic (Yugoslavia), Leonel Sanchez (Chile) – four goals

  England 1966
  Eusebio (Portugal) – nine goals
  Helmut Haller (West Germany) – six goals
  Franz Beckenbauer (Germany), Ferenc Bene (Hungary), Geoff Hurst (England), Valeriy Porkujan (USSR) – four goals

  Mexico 1970
  Gerd Muller (West Germany) – 10 goals
  Jairzinho (Brazil) – seven goals
  Teofilo Cubillas (Peru) – five goals

  West Germany 1974
  Grzegorz Lato (Poland) – seven goals
  Andrzej Szarmach (Poland), Johan Neeskens (Netherlands) – five goals

  Argentina 1978
  Mario Kempes (Argentina) – six goals
  Teofilo Cubillas (Peru), Rob Rensenbrink (Netherlands) – five goals

  Spain 1982
  Paolo Rossi (Italy) – six goals
  Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany) – five goals
  Zico (Brazil) – four goals

  Mexico 1986
  Gary Lineker (England) – six goals
  Emilio Butragueno (Spain), Careca (Brazil), Diego Maradona (Argentina) – five goals

  Italy 1990
  Salvatore Schillaci (Italy) – six goals
  Tomas Skuhravy (Czechoslovakia) – five goals
  Roger Milla (Cameroon) – four goals

  USA 1994
  Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria), Oleg Salenko (Russia) – six goals
  Kennet Anderssen (Sweden), Romario (Brazil) – five goals

  France 1998
  Davor Suker (Croatia) – six goals
  Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina), Christian Vieri (Italy) – five goals

  Japan/Korea 2002
  Ronaldo (Brazil) – eight goals
  Miroslav Klose (Germany), Rivaldo (Brazil) – five goals

  Germany 2006
  Miroslav Klose (Germany) – five goals
  Hernan Crespo (Argentina) – three goals
  Ronaldo (Brazil) – three goals

  South Africa 2010
  Thomas Muller (Germany) – five goals
  Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands) – five goals
  David Villa (Spain) – five goals

  Brazil 2014
  James Rodriguez (Colombia) – six goals
  Thomas Muller (Germany) – five goals
  Neymar (Brazil) – four goals

  Russia 2018
  Harry Kane (England) – six goals
  Antoine Griezmann (France) – four goals
  Romelu Lukaku (Belgium) – four goals