The 2026 World Cup could generate $60 billion in legal sports betting
The 2026 World Cup kicks off this Thursday, June 11, and the sports betting industry is already putting numbers on the tournament's reach. Consulting firm H2 Gambling Capital estimates that close to USD 60 billion will be moved through legal channels during the 38 days of competition, a figure that marks a new historical high for iGaming and brings Latin America fully into the conversation thanks to Brazil's regulatory debut.
The projected jump is 71 percent compared to the estimated volume for Qatar 2022 and 185 percent compared to the 2018 Russia World Cup, according to H2's calculations. The consulting firm clarifies that its models only consider the regulated market and exclude offshore and clandestine flows, which in much of Latin America still account for a significant percentage of the total volume.
Of the USD 60 billion projected globally, H2 places USD 5.7 billion in the three host countries. The United States leads with USD 2.9 billion, Mexico appears as the second largest market for the tournament with USD 2.5 billion, and Canada completes the podium with USD 300 million. This is the first time Mexico has joined a World Cup with the weight of a host country and the first time Brazil has entered a global projection of this size, following the authorization of regulated operators in early 2025.
More matches, more teams, less volume per match
The tournament format will be the largest in history, with 48 teams and 104 matches. H2 warns, however, that the expansion of the fixture does not proportionally translate into a higher betting volume. About 60 percent of the additional matches correspond to the group stage, where average participation is usually lower, and the inclusion of lower-ranked teams tends to generate unbalanced matches and less demand from bettors.
The rest of the extra matches come with the new round of sixteen. For H2, these clashes should be below the intensity and volume of the final rounds, on a curve that traditionally accelerates as the competition progresses. The consulting firm recalled that the quarter-finals of Qatar 2022, with two matches per day, registered more bets than many of the initial days with four matches, and that the semi-finals showed the peak of activity per individual match.
Another fine detail of the report is the Italy effect. The European team, which once again misses out on a World Cup, is one of the largest football betting markets on the continent, and its absence tends to lower local participation in each edition. For regulated operators in Latin America, however, the scenario is the opposite: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia arrive with their national teams qualified and with active licenses, which positions the tournament as the first major capacity test for regulators and authorized platforms in the region. If H2's projections are met, the 2026 World Cup will leave Latin America with a much more mature iGaming landscape than it had before the kick-off.
Tags: LatAm, 2026 World Cup, LatAm sports betting, H2 Gambling Capital, iGaming Brazil, iGaming Mexico