🥇 A Comprehensive Guide to World Cup Betting 2024

How To Get Started

The first item on your to-do list should be to open an account with a respected bookmaker. In fact, it is better to sign up for several of them. For starters, you are likely to receive sign-up bonuses and promotions from each of them. And when it comes to placing a bet, you can compare and contrast to ensure you are getting the best possible price.

Sports betting is our forte here at Irishluck, and we have spent time and effort on picking out some recommended sportsbooks so you do not have to. At the top of this page, you will find the best bookmakers for your World Cup betting needs. You cannot really go wrong no matter which ones you pick, and the good news is you will be able to use the same sportsbooks to bet on other events too. That could be the Premier League, La Liga or the Champions League if you are all-in on football, or it could be other sports like golf, rugby, horse racing or hurling. Once you have signed up, simply deposit some money into your account and you are ready to start betting!

FIFA World Cup Top Teams

History of the FIFA World Cup

FIFA was founded in 1904 but it took another 26 years before the World Cup came into being. The biggest international forum for football before the inaugural edition in 1930 was the Summer Olympics. The success of the Olympic competitions compelled FIFA to launch its own world football tournament, and 13 teams made the journey to Uruguay to compete in 1930. The host nation triumphed over Argentina in the final in Montevideo, building on their victories in the Summer Olympics of 1924 and 1928.

Most Successful Sides

There have been 21 editions of the World Cup up to now. Brazil are the most successful nation in the history of the tournament, having lifted the trophy five times: in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Italy have been successful on four occasions, getting their hands on the prize in 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006. Germany/West Germany also have four successes to their name, coming out on top in 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014. The other previous winners are Argentina (1978 and 1986), France (1998 and 2018), Uruguay (1930 and 1950), Spain (2010) and England (1966).

Other FIFA World Cup Participants

Qatar will become the 180th country to participate in a World Cup when the action gets under way in November. They will be the first host nation to make their World Cup debut since Italy in 1934. Mexico (16) have appeared at most World Cups without ever winning the tournament. The other non-victorious sides to have featured in 10 or more editions are Belgium (13), Sweden (12), Serbia/Yugoslavia (12), Russia/Soviet Union (11), Switzerland (11), the Netherlands (10), the United States (10) and South Korea (10). The 1930 World Cup was made up of teams from UEFA, CONMEBOL and CONCACAF. The first African participants were Egypt in 1934, while the first Asian representatives were Indonesia (then known as the Dutch East Indies) in 1938. Oceania debuted with Australia in 1974, although the Socceroos have since joined the Asian confederation.

FIFA World Cup Qualification Process

While FIFA determines how many World Cup places are available for each region, the confederations are handed responsibility for organising their own qualification processes. For the 2022 World Cup, UEFA (Europe) divided its 55 teams into 10 groups. The winners of each group qualified automatically for the World Cup, while the runners-up advanced to the play-offs.

• CONMEBOL (South America) stuck with its round-robin, single-league format, with all 10 teams facing each other home and away. The top four qualified automatically and the fifth-placed finisher will be involved in the intercontinental play-offs.

• CAF (Africa) divided its qualification process into three stages. The 28 lowest-ranked sides on the continent contested play-offs in the first stage. In the second round, 40 teams were split into 10 groups - the winners of which went through to the third round, where two-legged play-offs determined Africa's five qualifiers.

• The AFC (Asia) began with a play-off round involving its 12 lowest-ranked teams. In the second stage, 40 sides were divided into eight groups, with the winners and five runners-up going through. In the third round, 12 teams were split into two groups - the top two in each qualified for the World Cup, and the third-place finishers will contest a play-off in June. The winner of that game will go through to the interconfederation play-offs.

• CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) started with a group stage involving the region's 30 lowest-ranked teams. The group winners went through to the six-team play-off round, and the three victors in that stage joined the confederation's five highest-ranked sides in a round-robin format. The top three advanced to Qatar, with fourth place going through to the intercontinental play-offs.

• The OFC (Oceania) began its process with a qualification match between the two lowest-ranked sides. This game was actually cancelled due to pandemic-related complications, but the winner would have advanced to the group phase, where eight teams were split in two. The top two in each group progressed to the semi-finals, before the winners played the final. The winner of that game went through to the interconfederation play-offs.

FIFA World Cup Best Players

Best Current Players

World Cup football gives us the chance to see some of the best footballers on the planet strut their stuff on the biggest stage of all. Kylian Mbappe has only got better since he helped France win the tournament in Russia four years ago. Karim Benzema was not involved in that competition but will be central to his country's efforts in Qatar.

Mbappe's team-mates at Paris Saint-Germain, Neymar and Lionel Messi, will be desperate to go all the way with Brazil and Argentina respectively. Portugal's campaign will be spearheaded by Cristiano Ronaldo. England's talented squad will be led by Harry Kane, who won the Golden Boot in 2018. Spain will look to the teenaged Pedri for inspiration despite his tender years, while Robert Lewandowski and Sadio Mane will be relied upon by Poland and Senegal. 

Elsewhere, look out for Kevin De Bruyne with Belgium, Virgil van Dijk with the Netherlands and Thomas Muller with Germany. Several top players will miss out on Qatar. Egypt did not qualify, which means Liverpool star Mohamed Salah will be absent. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sweden have also missed out, while Italy's failure to qualify means television audiences will not get to see the likes of Gianluigi Donnarumma, Marco Verratti and Federico Chiesa in action. Luis Diaz (Colombia), Arturo Vidal (Chile), Erling Haaland (Norway) and Riyad Mahrez (Algeria) are among the other big names who will be watching from their sofas.

Best Historical Players

The most successful player in the history of the World Cup is Pele, the only footballer to have won the World Cup three times. The Brazilian legend was part of the winning squad in 1958, 1962 and 1970. Diego Maradona inspired Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986. The forward scored the greatest goal the tournament has ever seen as Argentina beat England in the quarter-finals that summer.

Other historical World Cup stars include Johan Cruyff (the Netherlands), Bobby Charlton (England), Paolo Rossi (Italy), Jose Nasazzi (Uruguay), Ferenc Puskas (Hungary), Didi, Garrincha, Romario, Ronaldo (all Brazil) and Zinedine Zidane (France).

Betting on FIFA World Cup Players

Match Betting

When we think of football betting, we usually focus on teams - who will win, how many goals they will score, whether both teams will find the net. But there are plenty of markets that focus on individual players - and there is usually value to be found in this area. The most common way to bet on a player is in the goalscorer market, where bookmakers offer the opportunity to place a wager on which player will score the first or last goal. You can also back a player to score anytime.

For big matches in particular, bettors can put money on a player receiving a card, a player scoring a hat-trick, a player registering an assist and various other in-game events. Player bets can be combined with team bets. A popular example is predicting a goalscorer and a result - Robert Lewandowski to score and Poland to win, for example.

Player Outrights

We explore team outright markets earlier in this guide. The same principle applies to player outrights - bets which are placed on an eventual outcome of a particular competition. The most obvious player outright bet relates to the Golden Boot, the award given to the player who scores the most goals at the World Cup. In 2018, Harry Kane won this prize after scoring six goals as England finished fourth.

Some sportsbooks will offer punters the chance to put money on an individual to be named Player of the Tournament or Young Player of the Tournament. There might even be an option to bet on who will finish the World Cup with the most assists.