World Cup Odds and Betting
The World Cup is a worldwide celebration of the globe's most beloved sport. Every four years, hundreds of millions of fans tune in to watch their favorite teams compete for the coveted top spot in this quadrennial world soccer competition.
The World Cup event wouldn't be complete without some bets to make the outcomes more attractive to viewers.
How to Bet on the World Cup
When it comes to the World Cup, betting is far from limited to wagering who'll win which group. Oddsmakers and betting venues—such as sports fan sites like DraftKings—offer several ways to place your bets on World Cup brackets—whether you want to go with moneylines, spreads, or futures bets to keep it interesting. See the wide variety of wagers you can make, covered below.
Types of Bets
Check out some of these fun World Cup events you can wager on.
Top Goal Scorer / Golden Boot
The top scorer in the World Cup wins the Golden Boot trophy. Officially started in 1982 as the Golden Shoe, the top scorers of every tournament before then are also considered Golden Boot winners. Guillermo Stabile of Argentina is the first-ever winner of the Golden Boot, with eight goals in the inaugural tournament of 1930 in Uruguay.
Since 1994, only one top scorer can receive the trophy. If two players are tied, the player with the most non-penalty goal wins. If the players remain tied, it goes to the player with the most assists. Coincidentally in 1994, Russia’s Oleg Salenko and Bulgaria’s Hristo Stoichkov shared the trophy with six goals and one assist each.
West Germany's Miroslav Klose holds the record for the most goals in a World Cup tournament, with 16 goals in 2014.
Spread
Also known as point spread betting, this method of wagering requires that the favored team beat the underdog by a certain number of points for the bet to pay out. Given the low-scoring nature of soccer, spreads usually range between 0.5 and 2 points.
The expected winner is noted with a negative number; the underdog with a corresponding positive number. If Team A has a -1.5 spread, Team B will possess a +1.5 spread. If you back Team A, they need to win by at least two goals for your wager to pay out. If you back Team B, you win the bet if they lose by one goal, tie, or win by any amount.
Draw no bet
With the draw no bet wagering method, you're simply backing one team to win over the other. If you back Team A and they win, you win your bet. If they lose to Team B, you lose your stake. In the case of a draw, the bookmaker returns your stake, and neither of you are out any money.
Moneyline
Moneyline betting—also known as match-result—is the simplest way to lay down a wager, and it's the most popular way to bet in the U.S.
When it comes to betting on World Cup matches, you'll most likely see odds laid out with a plus or minus sign and then a number. The setup usually looks like this—Team A: -200, -100, +150. Alternatively, the Moneyline may look like this—Team A: -200, Team B: +150.
The number after a plus sign means the amount of money you'll win if you place a $100 bet. The lower the probability a team has of winning, the higher the positive odds will be. Odds of +200 have a much higher chance of winning than a team with +1200 odds.
In each case, if you'd place a $100 bet on a team with +200 odds to win, and if your team wins, you get back your initial $100 stake plus the indicated amount of +200—for a grand total of $300 back to you.
In the case of negative odds, this indicates how much you have to stake in order to win $100. To bet on Team A, you'd have to stake $200. If they win, you would win back your $200 initial bet plus the $100 payout.
A three-way Moneyline provides a payout for a tie—indicated by the middle number of -100 in the first example. In this case, you put in $100 to win an additional $100.
Futures
Futures betting focuses on results that surpass an individual match’s immediate results. You can make wagers on long-term outcomes, such as who'll win MVP of the tournament and which team will walk away with the tournament trophy. Even betting on the Golden Boot is considered a futures wager.
In World Cup betting, some people begin making wagers on the next tournament champions a year or two before the next World Cup begins.
World Cup 2022 FAQs
When is the World Cup?
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will take place between November 20 and December 18, with the first group stage match between Qatar and Ecuador taking place at 11:00 a.m. ET. The final will be held on Sunday, December 18 at Lusail Iconic Stadium.
Where is the World Cup being played?
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is being held in Qatar, which was announced by FIFA back in 2010. Qatar is a peninsula located in the Middle East and shares a border with Saudi Arabia. Qatar built seven brand new stadiums from scratch for the tournament to bring the total to eight venues that will play as host for the World Cup matches.
How often is the World Cup held?
The World Cup is held every four years, dating back to 1930, when the tournament was first held in Uruguay. A different nation hosts the World Cup competition than the preceding tournament, and the hosting country automatically wins a placement in the event.
How does the World Cup qualifying work?
Each continent has its own FIFA-affiliated conference, each with different placement numbers and each with its own complex qualification requirements. At every World Cup event, conferences send a set number of players to the tournament.
The European conference UEFA, with 55 teams, sends 13 to the World Cup each tournament—the most out of any conference.
The North American, Central American, and Caribbean conference CONCACAF has 35 FIFA-affiliated teams, most of whom rarely qualify. CONCACAF sends 3.5 teams each cycle, which means they're guaranteed three placements, with a possibility of four teams making it to the World Cup.
The South American Football Confederation CONMEBOL has ten members, but it's also a solid conference. They get 4.5 placements each World Cup, which means four teams will go each time, but with some likelihood of five CONMEBOL teams making it.
With 54 affiliated nations, Africa's CAF conference gets five places at the World Cup table. Asia's AFC conference, with 47 member nations, receives 4.5 places—guaranteed four spots in the World Cup tournament with a chance of five.
Oceania (OFC) includes Australia and New Zealand, as well as New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tahiti. With 11 member nations, the OFC gets a 0.5 placement, which means the conference isn't guaranteed a spot in the World Cup, but there's a chance they'll be able to send one team if other partial-placement conferences—like CONCACAF or CONMEBOL—don't have enough sufficiently performing nations to send a full slate of teams.
How many teams qualify for the World Cup?
With the exception of the host country—Qatar in 2022—31 of the 32 participating teams have to earn their place to compete in the World Cup tournament.
Who is the group of death in this year’s World Cup?
Who won the last World Cup?
France won the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, marking their second-ever World Cup title. They defeated Croatia with a score of 4-2 in the final match, with goals from Mario Mandžukić, Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba, and young phenom Kylian Mbappé, who was just 19 years old at the time. Mbappé finished the tournament with four goals overall, tied with the likes of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku.
Where will the next World Cup be held?
The 2026 World Cup competition is slated to be held in 16 cities across three North American countries — Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Mexico and Canada will each host ten matches. The USA will host 60, including every match from the quarterfinals to the final showdown.
This will be Canada's first time hosting or co-hosting the World Cup. The USA hosted the tournament once before in 1994, and Mexico has played host three times.
Which teams have won the World Cup, and in which years?
Here's the full list of World Cup winners, dating back to 1930:
| Year | Host Nation | Final Winner |
| 2018 | Russia | France |
| 2014 | Brazil | Germany |
| 2010 | South Africa |
Spain |
| 2006 | Germany | Italy |
| 2002 | Japan | Brazil |
| 2014 | Brazil | Germany |
| 1998 | France | France |
| 1994 | United States |
Brazil |
| 1990 | Italy | West Germany |
| 1986 | Mexico | Argentina |
| 1982 | Spain | Italy |
| 1978 | Argentina | Argentina |
| 1974 | West Germany |
West Germany |
| 1970 | Mexico | Brazil |
| 1966 | England | England |
| 1962 | Chile | Brazil |
| 1958 | Sweden | Brazil |
| 1954 | Switzerland | West Germany |
| 1950 | Brazil | Uruguay |
| 1938 | France | Italy |
| 1934 | Italy | Italy |
| 1930 | Uruguay | Uruguay |
Soccer abandoned the World Cup tournament in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II and the intensive rebuilding efforts in Europe after the war ended. Quadrennial play resumed in 1950.
Brazil holds the most World Cup wins, with five total.