Sportsbooks and technology providers across the United States sports betting industry report that this year’s World Cup produced record handle for a soccer tournament across the board and even rivaled other major prolonged sporting events.
Combining the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments together, Caesars Sportsbook said that the 2026 World Cup produced a 30% greater bet count and “a few percentage points” more handle than March Madness.
Partially owing to favorable time zones, more matches and a general fervor associated with the tournament being played on North American soil, the 2026 World Cup also massively outperformed the 2022 event at sportsbooks: DraftKings reports taking 650% more bets and BetMGM reports taking 211% more bets than four years ago.
“This World Cup will go down as the biggest betting event in American history — we’re talking the equivalent of ten Super Bowls,” Hard Rock Bet SVP of sportsbook Neil Walsh said over email. “A sport we were once told Americans would not embrace turned into one for the history books. The whole country wanted in.”
The final — in which Spain beat Argentina 1-0 to win the World Cup — was the most-bet soccer match in the histories of BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook and DraftKings — by both bets and handle. BetMGM said the final outperformed every 2026 College Football Playoff game besides the championship, as well as every March Madness, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Final and World Series game in the past year.
DraftKings said it accepted 2 million bets on the final alone, and Caesars took nearly 65% more handle on that match than the previous record match, which was also during this year’s tournament.
Read more:Alzheimer’s: Real-world study confirms Leqembi therapy benefits
The final attracted 4.4 times more handle than Caesars’ pretournament record.
Argentina and its legendary superstar Lionel Messi were a huge draw across the sportsbook marketplace, with the latter being the consensus most bet-on player for props and futures. Argentina ended up attracting the most overall tickets for many sportsbooks, and GeoComply points out it recorded 7.6 million location checks for Argentina’s late-night match with Algeria, more than most primetime games.
Of course, the United States was also an immense betting draw in the day-to-day and futures markets, and was easily the largest liability across the American sportsbook marketplace before its elimination; DraftKings reported that the USMNT was its most bet-on team for the tournament.
Read more:U.S. World Cup loss sets betting records, big profits for house
Reigning champion Spain opened as the favorite to win the 2030 World Cup, which it will co-host, showing +450 odds at DraftKings. Semifinalists France (+600) and England (+900) are next on DraftKings’ odds board, with fellow co-host Portugal tied with the English for the third spot.
Meanwhile, 2026 runner-up Argentina, which will almost surely not have Messi at the next World Cup, is tied for the sixth-best odds at 11-1, while 2030 co-host Morocco is a longer 35-1. The United States and Mexico check in at 80-1.
