France’s Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) reported that online sports betting stakes during the 2026 FIFA World Cup more than doubled compared to the 2022 tournament.
The FIFA World Cup set several records for online sports betting:
Over €1.3 billion in stakes and €157 million in Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) were recorded, more than double the amounts of the 2022 edition (€597 million in stakes and €70 million in GGR). This increase is due to two main factors: the expansion of the competition to 48 teams and 104 matches, and the structural dynamism of online sports betting, in addition to the performance of the French national team.
3.1 million players (3.8 million active accounts – including 1 million accounts opened during the competition) placed nearly 113 million bets during the competition, compared to 2.2 million players (2.6 million accounts) and 54 million bets in 2022, representing an increase of more than 40% in the pool of bettors and a doubling of the number of bets.
With €63M in bets recorded, the France/Spain semi-final on July 14 became the most bet-on match since 2010, ahead of the France/Argentina final (€51M) in 2022. The five most bet-on matches of the competition all exceeded €30M in bets and now feature in the Top 10 most bet-on matches: France/Morocco (€46M), the Spain/Argentina final (€38M), Paraguay/France (€35M) and France/Sweden (€33M).
These record figures reflect a fundamental trend in online sports betting, with annual stakes rising from €8.5 billion in 2023 to €10.3 billion in 2024 (+21%), and then to €11.5 billion in 2025 (+12%), even though the latter year did not include any major international competitions. This growth is fueled in particular by the expanding football calendar, to which the World Cup’s expansion to 48 teams contributed. This continued growth in betting options is a major concern for regulators, as it contributes to the intensification of gambling practices.
More diverse betting options than during the rest of the season
Bets on the “match winner” represent only 28% of the stakes in this competition, compared to over 45% for the rest of the football season, in favour of more precise bets (goalscorers, exact score) or combination bets. Live betting is down (25% of stakes, compared to 40% for the year in football), which is partly explained by the late kick-off times of the matches.
A negative financial outcome for the vast majority of bettors
While 44% of players placed fewer than 10 bets on the competition, approximately 15,000 placed more than 500. Overall, 471,000 players lost more than €100, while only 217,000 won at least that amount. Only about a quarter of players finished the competition without losses, despite the French team’s performance. The French National Gambling Authority (ANJ) will monitor the competition’s impact on problem gambling in the coming months.
A key moment for operators’ commercial communications
Given that this competition is a significant recruitment driver for the sector, operators had anticipated this major sporting event by increasing their advertising and promotional budgets (marketing and incentives) by 25% for 2026. In their 2026 promotional strategy forecasts, they stated their intention to concentrate nearly €150 million in marketing and incentive spending on the June-July period. Unsurprisingly, the largest advertising investments were made on television. In this context, to prevent any risk of advertising overexposure and the development of excessive gambling practices, the ANJ (National Gaming Authority) asked all operators, during its review of promotional strategies last January, not to exceed their announced overall budget and to limit any reallocation of spending within that budget. The ANJ will be able to verify this at the latest during the review of the 2026 strategies.
That being said, the regulator’s calls for moderation regarding this event appear to have been heeded. Indeed, the ANJ’s guidelines and recommendations have been followed, both concerning marketing and incentives. As a reminder, the refreshment breaks, a new feature of this World Cup, were not marketed by the two broadcasters (M6 and BeIN Sports) to gambling operators in order to avoid adding advertising intensity during the matches. This decision was also considered necessary (42%) and effective (35%) by the French public, with a higher proportion among those intending to bet. The possibility of updating the commitment charter signed in 2022 with the publishers and advertising agencies is being considered, particularly with regard to this point. More broadly, this charter relating to television, as well as the other charters signed simultaneously in the sectors of outdoor advertising, radio and digital media, could, if necessary, be subject to changes in order to adapt to the emergence of new advertising formats and techniques.
Finally, eight operators have deployed communications to prevent excessive gambling by reminding people of the rules to stay in control of their game.
