Bettor interest in the 2026 FIFA World Cup was concentrated around watches featuring Argentina, England, France and Spain, according to GR8 Tech.
The Cyprus-based betting and gaming tech company has released some early data from its World Cup trading, with plans to release the full set in August.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the four teams made it to the semi-finals of this year’s tournament, 42% of GR8_TECH’s total World Cup turnover was around matches featuring Argentina, England, France or Spain.
Runner-up Argentina was the most bet-on team with 12.5% of bets, though eventual champions Spain – who beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time in the final on Sunday 18 July – were just 0.09 percentage points behind their competitor.
“The World Cup generates a huge amount of data, but the value comes from understanding what sits behind it,” said Dinos Doxiadis, Head of Sportsbook Business at GR8_TECH.
“This session is about identifying the patterns operators might miss in their own reporting, challenging assumptions, and turning one month of World Cup activity into better decisions for future events.”
GR8_TECH’s initial data from The Locker Room shows an average tournament margin of over 12%. Average stakes during the knockout stages were 53% higher than during the group stage, while average stake on the final was 89% above the tournament average.
As expected, the tournament saw a huge amount of betting volume staked globally – as is the case with every other World Cup. Spain were widely backed at the outskirts of the tournament, as were France while some UK punters got behind England, according to some of the operators speaking to SBC.
According to GR8_TECH, industry professionals had the right idea, however, with a majority backing Spain to lift the trophy for the second time in the national team’s history, and just two years after lifting the Euros trophy against England.
The remainder of GR8_TECH’s data will be revealed when it hosts “The Locker Room” on 20 August, with data covering live betting and bet builders, margin and staking dynamics, and peak load-and settlement moments.
The event will also compare player acquisition and reactivation, post-tournament reactivation, unexpected geographic performances, failures across operations, products and campaigns, and priorities for the next tournament in 2030.
