This is the first World Cup with strict new regulated market rules in Brazil, land of the beautiful game. And, with half the adult population planning to bet on outcomes, competition bookies are bracing for record-smashing iGaming volumes as soccer-mad Brazilians splash out to back their team.
The biggest global sports event, the FIFA World Cup 2026, kicks off in two-weeks and promises to be a veritable bonanza for Brazilian online betting operators in Latin America’s largest iGaming market.
For the first time, punters in Brazil will be able to legally place online wagers on a World Cup game following the introduction of the country’s regulated betting market at the start of 2025.
Sixth Title
As their national team seeks their sixth World Cup champion title, millions of Brazilians will be betting on their squad. Many of them will be first-time bettors, excited by Brazil’s chances in the tournament that will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico with an expanded field of 48 countries competing.
Operators are preparing for the expected deluge in bets.
H2 Gambling Capital estimates that in the legal market alone, a staggering US$60 billion (£44.72bn) will be wagered worldwide during the June 11-July 19 World Cup.
And by some calculations, there could be as much as R$19 billion reais, some US$3.6 billion (£2.68bn), placed in bets in Brazil during the tournament.
In Brazil, the world’s fifth largest sports betting market, six out of 10 Brazilians are expected to place bets during the tournament. Newly licensed sportsbooks will battle each other to attract new customers and retain after the event.
Impact
“The World Cup has always represented one of the biggest moments for the global sports betting industry, but in Brazil the impact will be even more profound. We are talking about the first World Cup cycle within a regulated, structured and highly competitive market,” Fabio Tiberia, VBET’s vice-president for Brazil told iGamingFuture.
“Expectations are for very significant growth in betting volume, new user acquisition and engagement. Brazilians already have a natural emotional connection with football, and during the World Cup this becomes a daily experience.
“In practice, the tournament accelerates the maturity of the entire sector,” affirmed Tiberia.
The tournament will also be the first to feature an expanded field of 48 teams, up from 32, resulting in a total of 104 matches – 40 more than any previous edition.
Expansion
“This expansion significantly increases the addressable betting opportunity, providing operators with a broader slate of events through which to engage audiences,” H2 Gaming Capital said in a special report on projected World Cup betting activity.
But the report also cautioned: “The increased number of fixtures, combined with the inclusion of lower-ranked teams, may dilute engagement, especially in the early stages of the competition.”
H2 estimates that around US$60 billion will be wagered through legal sportsbooks, representing a 71 percent increase over our estimates for the 2022 tournament and a 185 percent increase compared with 2018.
The anticipated betting volume does not include figures for illegal betting.
Global Event
Oren Dalal, Publisher of GamingMarkets.com, said: “I see the World Cup as more than a short-term spike in betting activity in Brazil.
“It will be the first major global football event to test the country’s newly regulated fixed-odds betting market.
“Brazil is now operating under a framework where only authorized operators can serve the market legally. That makes the tournament a real test for operators and their platforms, not only in marketing, but also in payments, onboarding, identity checks, AML controls, responsible gambling controls, fraud monitoring and live-betting capacity.”
With more than 180 brands offering various markets, Brazilian operators are competing fiercely not just among themselves but also against a still-strong clandestine off-shore market, which still accounts for half of the Brazilian online bets.
AI-Powered Betting
Ultra-fast processing of deposits and premium payments will be a gamechanger for the regulated market to draw casual fans and first-time gamblers.
Among those aiming to gain an advantage are Superbet, KTO and Stake, three major Brazilian operators using technology provided by Kambi, a betting technology leader that processes more than 50 percent of its total wagers in Latin America.
And Kambi is planning to deploy fully AI-powered sports betting trading for this World Cup.
According to a survey by Okto Payment, almost half of Brazilian adults, even those who don’t normally gamble, say they will place bets on the world’s greatest single-sport tournament.
