Often referred to as “the greatest show on earth,” the World Cup is an unprecedented sporting event that’s full of drama, superstars from national teams – and betting opportunities.

Only 8 different nations have won the World Cup. 8/9 most recent World Cups won by a team rated 7/1 or lower by the bookies. 6/9 most recent World Cup runners up started the tournament at double-figure odds. 19/22 teams to reach the final in European hosted World Cup finals have been European. Germany has played in 8 finals. However, you can also easily find the best World Cup odds to bet a draw if you would prefer that. How you use this information is up to you – whether you want to follow the crowd or prefer to forge your own path. For a consistent outlook at how people are betting for the World Cup.

If you’re wondering how to bet on the World Cup online and win, the good news is that this article is here to help. I’m going to show you a straightforward way to improve your chances of success so that the World Cup is great fun to watch and make money out of.

I’ll be looking at the best betting sites before revealing my personal strategy that I use when betting on this prestigious soccer tournament. The only disappointment you’ll feel after reading this is that the World Cup only comes around once every four years!

Without further ado, let’s get right into things.

Best FIFA World Cup Betting Sites

888 Sports is easily one of the best World Cup betting sites because they don’t restrict your stakes. You can bet, however much you want on whatever you want. They also get you in the mood with lots of cool promos and rewards.

Sign up today and grab a $30 free bet when you deposit your first $10.

Ladbrokes is another great sportsbook that knows how to get you in the mood for a World Cup with some fun promos and bonuses. They also offer competitive odds, a fantastic in-play service, and their live statistics are always up-to-date.

Sign up today and grab a $50 welcome bonus when you make your first deposit.

William Hill is a European sportsbook that’s also available to U.S. players. Its World Cup Specials are some of the best around, its gaming software is super high quality, and its user interface makes the site easy to use.

Sign up today and grab a $30 free bet when you make a first deposit of $10.

Betting On The World Cup: Full Guide

Helpful Stats & Facts For Betting On The World Cup

• Since the 1982 tournament, every single team who won the WC came top of their group

• Hosts have always reached the knockout stage except for South Africa in 2010

• No African side has yet won a World Cup, and neither has an Asian side

• Only 3 countries have ever won all their WC games

• The only team to ever retain the World Cup was Brazil in 1962

• The last 3 World Cup champions were eliminated in the group stages

The Most Popular Types of World Cup Bets

The World Cup is such a fun tournament to bet on. But what types of bets do most punters place?

Top Scorer

The top scorer bet has always been popular at the World Cup. Typically, only a handful of players will realistically claim the Golden Boot, which means punters always fancy their chances with this one. The odds, of course, depend on the pedigree of the player. For example, a renowned goalscoring centre forward will have much shorter odds than a winger.

Parlays

Parlay bets are extremely popular at World Cups, primarily for two reasons. One, they increase your payout. Two, they’re a lot of fun. A parlay is when you choose three or more selections in the same bet, such as three different teams to win on the same day.

There are different types of parlays you can choose, and one of the most popular is group winners. For example, you could decide who will win Group A, Group B, and Group C. However, with the way a parlay works, every single one of your picks must win. Otherwise, the whole bet loses.

Correct Scores

Think France will win their opening game 3-0? This is a “correct score” bet that’s really popular with World Cup punters. If you’ve got a hunch about the correct score, it’s an interesting bet to place because the payout will be pretty huge if you get it right.

Team To Win The Tournament

Perhaps the most popular bet is the outright tournament winner. For this bet to win, the team you pick must win the World Cup. It’s that simple!

The payout can be huge if you back an outsider, but it will obviously be much smaller if you back the outright favorite.

With 32 teams taking part, this bet can seem hard to get right. But there are usually a handful of favorites each year that most punters and bookies can’t see beyond. For example, France was the favorite in 2018, and Germany was the favorite in 2014. Both teams won.

FIFA World Cup Betting Strategy

In this section, I want to share with you a World Cup betting strategy I personally employ to make each World Cup a success for me financially. Hopefully, this strategy can work for you too, but please bear in mind that past profits don’t guarantee future results.

Find Value In The Underdog

The World Cup is nothing if not full of surprises. In 2002, France was the current World Cup holders. But while many expected them to reach the final, France had a terrible 2002 World Cup. They lost their opening match to massive underdogs Senegal and exited the group.

Underdogs getting shock results happen a lot at World Cups. Who expected South Korea to eliminate holders Germany at the 2018 World Cup? Or Iran to hold Argentina until the 93rd minute in 2014?

The point is that winning consistently during the World Cup will be very difficult if you keep backing the favorite. Yes, the favorite will win a lot of the time. But you must stake big to get a “decent” profit.

And what happens if the favorite loses at some point? You’re back to zero.

It’s a much better idea to find value bets by backing the underdog. This strategy can really pay off if you do your research beforehand and can spot an upset coming.

For example, France started the World Cup 2010 amidst a backdrop of team unrest. Star striker Anelka walked out on the eve of their opening match. They were in turmoil!

What happened next? Uruguay shocked them by getting a 0-0 draw. Smart bettors would have seen it coming.

Top Tips For Betting On The World Cup

Have Fun!

Because the World Cup only comes around once every four years, it’s really important that you don’t let your bets ruin your enjoyment of it. If you lose, take it on the chin. Don’t chase your losses to the point where you lose your entire bankroll and the World Cup is no longer fun.

Play Around With Parlays

Parlays are a lot of fun because they have bigger payouts than a single. Plus, they give you an interest in more games. For example, if you had France, Colombia, and Brazil to win their opening matches and the first two win their games, think how excited you’ll be going into the third match!

Watch Out For Dead Rubber Games

The World Cup group stage always throws up at least one dead rubber game. This is always in the final round of group games, and it involves at least one team who has nothing to play for (perhaps they’ve already been eliminated). Because there’s nothing to play for, the match often finishes 0-0 (especially if both teams have nothing to play for).

The point is that all forms should be ignored during dead rubber games.

Common Online World Cup Betting Tools

• OddsMarket – OddsMarket is an odds comparison tool that will help you find the best prices for your bets. This ensures maximum payouts.

• AceOdds – If you’ll be placing parlays and various other types of bets, you can use a tool like AceOdds to help you figure out the value of each bet.

World Cup Betting Lines

Final Word

Betting on the FIFA World Cup is so much fun when you know what you’re doing. Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of what it’s all about in terms of what to do (and what not to do), as well as what tools to use. You can also use some of the tips and tools in this article to bet on soccer in general.

Football World Cup Betting Odds

Don’t forget to let me know in the comments how you get on!