World Cup Event: Which Team Are You Betting On?
The 2026 World Cup kicks off — the biggest ever. 48 teams, 104 matches, co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, running June 11 to July 19. It's also shaping up as one of the largest sports-betting events in history, with global wagers projected near $50 billion.
Let's be honest: people who trade stocks usually love a flutter too. Buying a stock is a bet on fundamentals; backing a World Cup team is a bet on form and heart. Underneath, it's the same game — probability, odds, and emotion.
First, the bad news for the home crowd. No Southeast Asian team made it this time. Indonesia got the closest it ever has in qualifying and still came up short, and Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore never got near. Asia's flag is carried by 9 AFC teams instead: Japan, South Korea, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Australia, plus first-timers Jordan and Uzbekistan. So for most of us, this one's about picking a side on vibes, not passports.
So who's actually winning this thing?
Goldman Sachs models show Spain the favorite at around 26%, with France close behind near 19%, then Argentina around 14% and Brazil about 8%. The usual storylines are all back:
- Brazil — the attack, always the attack
- Argentina — defending champs, can they go back-to-back?
- France — maybe the deepest squad on paper
- Spain — quietly the bookies' top pick
- England — forever fighting the "tournament curse" (the models give them about 5%)
And the names that cash in no matter who wins
You don't have to guess the champion to spot who profits from the noise. Sportsbooks like $DraftKings Inc.(DKNG)$ and $Flutter Entertainment PLC(FLUT)$ live for exactly this — a global event landing in a normally quiet June and July, with traffic pouring in. Whether they keep the windfall is a separate fight (prediction markets like Polymarket are crashing the party and eating into margins), but the eyeballs are guaranteed.
Your turn — drop your picks
Which team are you betting to lift the trophy?
Would you ride the betting stocks ($DKNG, $FLUT) alongside it, or just enjoy the football?
And since the big games land in U.S. hours, are you setting a 3am alarm?
Drop your team in the comments to win tiger coins!
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When it comes to betting the winners, 2 companies will benefit: $Flutter Entertainment PLC(FLUT)$ & $DraftKings Inc.(DKNG)$ .
Flutter has the edge over Draft Kings as Flutter is a global empire. They own FanFuel in the US, PaddyPower & Skybet in the UK & Sportsbet in Australia. This means that Flutter is insulated from any single country's regulatory shift.
DraftKings is a North American pure play. If US sports betting growth slows down, it will feel the pain.
May Team France Win!🇫🇷🇫🇷😍😍
@Tiger_SG @Tiger_comments @TigerStars
Spain feels like the most structurally complete team. They don’t rely on moments, they control games, and that tends to scale well in a 48-team format with more fixtures. If I had to play the theme, $Flutter Entertainment PLC(FLUT)$ and $DraftKings Inc.(DKNG)$ are basically the “event exposure” trade rather than a team-specific bet. 3am matches are officially a “depends how important it is” situation.
From a market angle, $DraftKings Inc.(DKNG)$ and $Flutter Entertainment PLC(FLUT)$ benefit less from who wins and more from how many people are watching and betting globally.
Sleep-wise… I’ll probably “intentionally ignore” a few group stage matches
For the “betting side,” $DraftKings Inc.(DKNG)$ and $Flutter Entertainment PLC(FLUT)$ are basically playing the tournament even if they’re not on the pitch.
And I already know I’m going to set alarms I won’t wake up for.
The real trade is probably in $DraftKings Inc.(DKNG)$ and $Flutter Entertainment PLC(FLUT)$, since the World Cup is more about engagement spikes than predicting the champion correctly.
And yes, I’ll say I’m watching live… but some matches are definitely getting replay treatment.
On stocks, I’d still look at $Flutter Entertainment PLC(FLUT)$ as the steadier long-term beneficiary of global betting demand, with $DraftKings Inc.(DKNG)$ more tied to sentiment swings.
Sleep schedule? Fully unplanned at this point.
I’d still lean into $DraftKings Inc.(DKNG)$ and $Flutter Entertainment PLC(FLUT)$ as the “volume plays” rather than trying to pick the winner. Big tournaments are about activity, not accuracy.
And yes, I’ll pretend I can handle 3am matches… until reality hits in week one.
For the “bet on the chaos” angle, I’d lean into the volatility plays rather than the outcome itself $DraftKings Inc.(DKNG)$ and $Flutter Entertainment PLC(FLUT)$ tend to benefit no matter who lifts the trophy, since it’s more about volume than predicting winners.
As for the 3am alarm… I’ll say yes now, and regret it during the group stage when the third “must watch” match kicks off at 2:45am 😅
After all everyone loves an underdog winning it all.
It is nice that the 2nd game of the WC (Korea Czechia) was 10am Shanghai Time
And no, no way I am investing with relation to football or world cup.