Football Betting Sites, Tips, Odds & Strategy 2024

Popular Football Competitions Around the World

When it comes to associated football and football betting across the globe, certain leagues and tournaments are the centres of attention. We'll quickly take you through the top football competitions in the world.

The World Cup

The world cup is an international association football competition. The national football teams of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) participating countries compete for the world championship title. It started in 1930 and is played every four years, with 32 countries playing in the final tournament phase.

UEFA Champions League

The Champions League is an annual football competition organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), where European clubs from different top-level divisions compete. It started in 1955.

English Premier League (EPL)

The English premier league is the top level of the English football league system, where 20 clubs in and around England compete for the top position and the chance to participate in the UEFA Championship. It started in 1992.

Spanish Primera Division (La Liga)

La Liga is the Spanish football league system’s top-level football division, where 20 teams compete for the top position and a chance at the UEFA Championship. It started in 1929.

History of Football in Ireland

You will agree that football is a pretty standard sport in Ireland. In fact, it is the second most popular sport in the country, and it is Ireland’s third most popular spectator sport after Gaelic football and hurling. While the sport is not a local sport with Irish origins like GAA football and hurling, it has also had a pretty long history in Ireland. The sport was already being played in Ulster as far back as 1860, but it wasn’t until the 1880s that it started spreading to other places across the country. 

The establishment of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) in 1921 spelt a new era for associated football in Ireland. Since then, the sport gradually became ingrained in the culture of the Irish people, with different tournaments and competitions occurring regularly. While the domestic leagues in Ireland are pretty famous, English football remains the go-to option for many Irish football fans, with more than 120,000 Irish fans travelling to watch football games in the U.K. each year.

Football Divisions in Ireland

You will agree that when it comes to associated football, the English Premier League (EPL), the Spanish Primera Division (La Liga), the German Bundesliga, and the UEFA Champions League, among others, need no introductions. These are the biggest and the most popular leagues in the world. Most countries have tournaments and leagues where the different football teams within the country compete regularly, and Ireland is not an exception.

There are dozens of football tournaments and leagues taking place in Ireland annually. Traditionally, associated football in Ireland is classified into senior, intermediate and junior, encompassing the national, provincial, and district leagues, respectively. The table below shows some basic information on Ireland's top 5 leagues and divisions.

Venues for Playing Football in Ireland

Though not as popular as GAA football or hurling, associated football is a pretty popular sport in Ireland, which is not surprising as it is considered the most popular sport globally. As a result, there are many different venues where the sport is played in and around Ireland. The table below shows some basic information about the five most prestigious venues for playing football in and around the country.

Half-time/Full-time

You will agree that just because a team is in the lead in the first half of a football match doesn’t necessarily mean that the team will eventually win the game. As a result, a market that takes advantage of this aspect of football matches is the Half-time/Full-time market. In this market, a punter will have to place wagers on the result of a football game at half time and at full time. 

You can do this by picking a single team to win both halves or one team to win the first half while the other wins the second half. You can also add ties into the mix, leading to 9 possible combinations of bets (Home team/Home team, Home team/Away team, Home team/Draw, Draw/Home team, Draw/Draw, Away team/Away team, Away team/Home team, Away team/Draw, Draw/Away team).

Outrights/Ante-Post Betting

Another popular way Irish punters bet on football is by using the outright betting market. Unlike the other bet types we have explained, the outright betting market is more of a long term bet, involving placing bets on tournaments as a whole.

In this market, you can predict which team will win at the end of a particular league or championship tournament, such as the Premier League, the Europa League, or the Champions League. You can also bet on top goalscorers, the teams that will take top positions, the team that will end up in relegation, and many other markets.

Other Betting Markets

The list of football betting online markets that you can access and place wagers on is endless. Depending on the betting site you are using, you will always find new and exciting betting options that you can place bets on when it comes to football games. 

Below are a few other online football betting markets that deserve mention;

• Corners: Involves different betting options on the corners that are played in a match. This includes total corners, first match corner, last match corner, and many others.
• Goals: Involves different betting options on the goals scored in a football match. This includes the first winning margin, total scores, the first team to score, the last team to score, etc.
• Cards: Involves betting market options revolving around received cards in a football match. This includes the number of cards in a match, the first card received, the first player booked, and many others.
• Player: The market revolves around bets on individual players in the match. It includes goalscorers, multi scorers, player assists, player passes, and many others.

In-Play Betting

One of the latest features taking the sports betting industry by storm today is live betting, also known as in-play betting. Punters are no longer limited to making pre-match betting for football games. Irish punters can place bets on different aspects of football with the in-play feature while the football sporting event is going on. Here, punters can observe the flow of the ongoing game and make informed decisions based on what they see.

While the markets offered for live betting are not as massive or extensive as pre-match betting, there are more than enough exciting ones to keep sports betting enthusiasts entertained. Several bookmakers offer this feature, and you will find different markets like the next goalscorer, the next team to score, the next team to get a field kick, and so many others. We should mention that, unlike pre-match betting, the odds offered for in-play betting are fixed. Instead, the odds fluctuate as the flow of the live game action taking place on the football pitch changes.

Singles and Accumulators Explained

Typically, depending on the sportsbook you are using, there are two primary ways to place bets, namely singles (straight bets) and accumulators (parlay). When you place bets with an accumulator, you use the same amount to wager on the entire selection. 

This betting method offers the potential for significant returns for small stakes. Naturally, the risk to making this type of bet is that all the picks have to win for a bettor to receive the payout. Singles, on the other hand, don't work the same way. When you use singles, you have to place wagers on each of your selections of markets, which means that a loss on any of the picks doesn’t affect the returns of the others.

How to Place Football Bets

If you are new to the world of online football betting, then you may be wondering what the process of making wagers on the football sport looks like. Thankfully, the process is pretty simple and doesn’t require any cumbersome effort to get done. 

We have highlighted the steps you need to follow in the content below.

1. Find a sports betting site is if you don’t already have one.
2. Create your sportsbook account with the site.
3. Choose a deposit method from the site's payment methods list and deposit money into your player's account.
4. The next thing to do is start selecting football events and markets you want to wager on.
5. As you click on the football markets you want to stake on, the bets will automatically show up on your betting slip, and you can choose to place the bets as singles or as a combination in accumulators.
6. Once you are satisfied with your bet selections, you need to enter the stake amount and submit the betting slip.