UNITED STATES, July 18, (v7n) – The World Cup has engaged punters like never before, with an 80% increase in betting volume compared to the 2022 edition—even accounting for the higher number of matches in the expanded 48-team tournament, a betting expert told AFP.

While many football fans were sceptical about the increase from 32 to 48 teams, punters have apparently welcomed it. "We've seen an 80% increase in the ticket volume," Darren Small, senior vice president of Managed Trading Services at Sportradar, told AFP. "We're seeing more bets and more active customers. We've seen record numbers and we've surpassed our expectations."

For Sunday's final between Spain and defending champions Argentina, Small expects Sportradar—a global sports technology company—to handle approximately 8.5 million betting tickets for its 250 bookmaking clients worldwide. Small said the expansion to 104 games was a factor, but added: "We also expected it just because of the industry growth and general growth."

England may have to wait another four years to add a second star to their 1966 triumph, but they topped the betting table. The four semi-finalists—also the top four FIFA-ranked teams—drew the most interest, with England attracting approximately 16.3 million betting tickets ahead of France (15.5m), Argentina (15m), and Spain (14.5m). The highest-volume games were England's semi-final defeat by Argentina (5.8m), England's quarter-final win over Norway (5.7m), and Spain's semi-final victory over France (5.3m).

David Stevens, head of public relations at English bookmaker Coral, said fears over the enlarged format had been put to rest by a group stage full of surprises. "Throughout the group stage there were plenty of matches where the result did not go according to the betting," he said. Chief among those was Cape Verde, who held Argentina to a 3-2 thriller after extra-time. "The Islanders are every bookmakers' new favourite team," Stevens said.

The surge in betting interest has also been fuelled by offers on individual players and a wide range of outcomes. "You could be backing Messi to score with his left foot in the first 25 minutes, Spain to go on to win 3-1 and there to be 15 corners, 2 assists," said Small.

Asked about FIFA president Gianni Infantino's suggestion of expanding to 64 teams, Stevens said: "Would we welcome an even bigger World Cup in four years? 'No' is the simple answer. There has to be a point at which fans and punters alike switch off as a result of too many games, and 64 teams feels very much like that point. However, Mr Infantino wants it to happen, and therefore, it's probably a safe bet that it will happen, such is his current power over FIFA."

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