HOW TO BET ON THE WORLD CUP 2022
Article

How to Bet on the World Cup 2022

3 November 2022

Betting on the World Cup for the first time? In this beginner-friendly, quick and simple guide, we make it easy for you to get started with your football wagers.

How to Bet on the World Cup

Online betting sites have lots of markets in place for the 2022 World Cup, and you can already wager not only on outrights such as the tournament winner and top goalscorer, but also on individual matches such as England vs Iran, USA vs Wales, and any other group fixture.

Even for complete beginners, it couldn't be easier to get started with your chosen bookmaker and find the bets you want to place.

World Cup Betting: The Basics

  • Odds are set by each bookmaker and indicate how much you would win if you bet a certain amount.
  • Usually, odds are shown as fractions. If you see odds of 5/1, it means you would win £5 for every £1 you bet.
  • For each match, you can bet on things like:
    • Full-time result
    • Total goals
    • Player to score
    • Correct score

In this article, we'll show you how it's done, but first, below is a list of the best betting sites you can use for your World Cup wagers.

Best World Cup Betting Sites

18+ | begambleaware | Please Gamble Responsibly | Commercial Content | T&Cs Apply

  1. Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Bets

    T&Cs apply. New customers only. Deposit & Place a Bet within 7 days, and settle a £10 minimum bet at odds of 4/5 (1.8) or greater, to be credited with 3x £10 Free Bets: 2 x £10 Horse Racing and 1 x £10 Free Bet Builder. 7 day expiry. Stake not returned. 18+ BeGambleAware.org

  2. Bet £10 Get £30 Surprise Bet

    New customers & 18+ only. Min. deposit of £10. Qualifying real money bet of £10. Min odds greater than or equal to 1.5 required. E/W bets excluded. Offer awarded immediately but could be issued the next working day in exceptional circumstances such as technical fault. Additional T&Cs apply. Please gamble responsibly.

  3. Bet £10 Get £40 in Free Bets

    18+ New customers only. Opt in, bet £10  on any football market at minimum 1/1 odds. No cash out. Get £40 in Free Bets on selected events. Free Bets expire in 7 days. Card payments only. T&Cs apply. begambleaware.org | Please gamble responsibly

  4. Bet £10 Get £20 in Free Bets

    New members. £10 min bet on sportsbook (ex. virtual) 1.5 min odds, settled in 14 days of sign-up. Win part E/W bets. Free Bets: accept in 7 days, valid 7 days on sportsbook (ex. virtual). Stake not returned. T&Cs apply. Click here for full T&Cs

  5. Bet £10 Get £40 in Free Bets

    New customers only. 7 days to place a qualifying bet to receive 6 x Free Bets: 4 x £10 Horse racing, 2 x £10 Acca Free Bets. 7 day expiry. Exclusions apply. Stake not returned. T&Cs apply. 18+ begambleaware.org

  6. Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Bets

    Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Registration required. T&Cs, time limits and exclusions apply.

  7. Bet £10 Get £10 Free Bet

    UK?Ireland only. 18+. T&C's apply. his promotion is for new customers only. Sign Up using the promo code ‘march10', deposit and bet £10 in minimum odds of evens (2.0) and receive a £10 free bet upon bet settlement. Only customers signing up through a recognized affiliate partner will be eligible for this promotion. The promotional period begins 00:00 01/03/24 and is an ongoing promotion.. Qualifying bets must be placed in the promotional period. Cashed Out or void bets do not qualify.

  8. Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Bets

    18+ New customers only. Opt in, and bet £10 on football (odds 2.00+) within 7 days from registration. No cash out. Get 6x£5 football free bets for set markets, which expire after 7 days. Selected payment methods only. Click on the links for full T&Cs. Begambleaware. | Please gamble responsibly

  9. £30 Matched Free Bet If Your 1st Acca Loses. Plus 100 Spins

    New UK customers only. Min Stake: £5. Maximum Free Bet: £30. First bet on a Football or Horse Racing multiple with 3+ selections. Overall odds: 3.00 (2/1) or higher. Free Bets available upon settlement of the qualifying bet. 100 Free Spins on Gold Blitz (£0.10 per spin) credited on settlement of qualifying Acca bet. No wagering requirements on free spin winnings. Debit Card deposit only (exclusions apply). This offer is valid 7 days from the new account being registered. 18+ BeGambleAware.org. Bet the Responsible Way. Full terms apply.

How to Bet on the World Cup 2022

1

Choose your betting site

The first thing you need to do is pick your bookmaker.

Of course, you can go for more than one and use multiple betting sites throughout the World Cup.

We have listed the top 10 betting sites for the World Cup above, but feel free to check out all of the best betting sites if you want more options.

Our reviews might be useful for you to read a bit about each of the bookies and see which ones suit your needs.

2

Register and claim the welcome offer

When you see a betting site that you are happy with, just click the 'Claim' button on one of our pages and you'll be taken to the welcome offer for the bookie you have picked.

We strongly suggest that you don't miss out on any betting offers for new customers, as there won't be any further opportunities to claim.

You will need to fill out a registration form when signing up, and the betting site will ask for your name, address, date of birth, and contact information.

It is possible that you will need to verify this information by sending digital copies of documents. Don't worry - this is perfectly normal.

3

Make a deposit

Now that you are registered, you will need to add some funds to your account so that you can crack on with your World Cup bets.

In order to claim the welcome offer, you will most likely need to deposit via debit card.

This might turn some people off, but we can reassure you that all of the betting sites we display are completely safe and secure.

Other betting payment methods are available, but you would probably have to sacrifice the welcome offer if you wanted to use something like PayPal, Skrill, or Neteller.

4

Find the World Cup markets

This is where the navigation flow comes into play. The best football betting sites make it very easy for users to get from A to B.

Betway, for example, which is one of our favourites at Bookies Bonuses, has a search bar in which you can simply type 'World Cup' and all of the relevant options will appear.

Otherwise, you might need to click into the football section in the sidebar and manually find the World Cup competition.

With most online bookmakers, you should then be able to click into any match or browse the outrights and specials.

5

Add selections to your betslip

When you click on the odds for a bet you want to place, this will add that bet to what is known as your 'betslip'.

If you want, you can add just one selection to your betslip and move on.

Otherwise, if you want to place a variety of bets or perhaps an accumulator, you can add various bets to your betslip.

Accumulators are popular, especially with bookies that offer Acca Insurance or an Accumulator Bonus.

6

Place your bets

Now that you have your bets in your betslip, you'll just need to enter your stake(s) and confirm your wagers.

You will be offered the opportunity to place your bets as singles, or if there is more than one bet in your slip you will be offered combinations and multiples.

If you want to combine more than one bet within one particular match, you may be able to go for a bet builder - which is hugely popular among football punters.

And that's it! You can now track them up until the moment they settle, and some betting sites will allow you to cash out, maybe even before the game has kicked off.

7

If you win, withdraw your winnings

If this step is relevant to you - congrats!

When you want to withdraw, you can easily access this option via your account/profile, and you can choose to take our all of your winnings or just a portion of them. It's up to you.

Minimum withdrawal amounts are usually somewhere between £5-£20, and withdrawal times can also vary but there are some instant withdrawal betting sites that get your money to you right away.

You should withdraw using the same payment method you used to make your deposit.

How Football Betting Works

So, we have shown you the various steps that are involved when it comes to placing bets on football matches at the World Cup.

But now you might be wondering - what do the different bet types actually mean?

This is not a silly question! There is so much variety now, and half of the markets you see on football betting sites today probably didn't even exist a decade ago.

Football Bet Types

Full Time Result

No prizes for guessing what this one means. When you bet on the full time result, you can pick either team to win or for it to be a draw.

Bear in mind that when the World Cup reaches the knockout stage, the full time result market applies to 90 minutes only, and if you want to back a team to progress, that would be a separate market.

Double Chance

With double chance, you cover two of the three possible full time result outcomes. For example, if you are betting on England vs USA, you could back 'England or Draw'.

Of course, the odds are much shorter for such an outcome when compared with the odds for England to win.

Goals Over/Under

With these markets, you can bet on the total number of goals that there will be in a game. The line will be set at, for example, 2.5, and if you back under, then you win if the game has 0, 1, or 2 goals.

The reason that the line is set with a .5 is so that it is clear whether or not the total number of goals is over or under that number, rather than it being exactly the same.

Both Teams to Score

Another self-explanatory market. In this instance, you simply back 'yes' or 'no'.

Correct Score

You can bet on what you think the exact scoreline will be in a game, and it is here where you can start to get bigger and more attractive odds.

Remember: This, like many other markets, only applies to the 90 minutes, and not extra-time or penalties.

Half Time/Full Time

This means that you combine who you think will be ahead at half-time, and who will be ahead at full-time.

So, for England vs USA, you could bet on 'England - England' if you think they will lead at half-time and full-time.

They do not need to win both halves (although you can back that in a separate bet). So, they could be 1-0 up at half-time and still 1-0 at full-time, and you would win.

Draw No Bet

Draw no bet is more appealing to some punters than double chance because you get better odds.

Basically, you get your money back if the team you back doesn't win and the game ends in a draw.

Bet Builder

This is one for the more adventurous punters.

You can add multiple selections within a single game and essentially create a same-game accumulator.

The betting site will instantly give you the odds for this bet, and there are so many options to choose from, especially with the top sites like BetUK, BetVictor, and Bet365.

Asian Handicap

There are various different types of handicap bets but lots of people like the Asian handicap because of its variety of outcomes.

With handicap betting, you give one team a headstart, and to find out more about this, read our Asian handicap guide.

Player to Score

You can back players to score the first goal, last goal, two goals, a hat-trick, or just simply to score any time.

On some betting sites, you can even back individuals to score a header or from outside the box!

Player Specials

Perhaps taking inspiration from betting sites in the US, player specials, or player props as they call them across the pond, are now taking online bookmakers by storm.

So, not only can you bet on players to score, but you can now bet on them to register an assist, a certain number of shots on target, tackles, offsides, and so on.

These markets aren't available on all betting sites, but they are great fun.

Accumulators

If you want a shot at a big payout with just a small stake, accumulators are a great shout.

You add multiple selections to your betslip, and combine them all into one wager.

Your bet will only be a winner if every single selection is successful.

In-Play Betting

In-play or live betting is an entire category on its own and you might see that it has its own dedicated section on your chosen betting site.

You can pretty much bet on all of the markets and bet types described above after the game has already started.

This makes the live experience particularly exciting, and in some places you can even bet on things to happen in the next five minutes.

World Cup Betting Outrights

Markets such as the tournament winner and top goalscorer are known as 'outrights'.

You can bet on these pre-tournament or after it has started, and the odds will constantly change as oddsmakers react to events on the pitch.

How to Bet on the World Cup Winner

When you get to the World Cup section of your chosen betting site, there should be an Outrights section you can click into.

The first market displayed will usually be the World Cup winner, and the odds will be displayed next to each team.

Some betting sites will allow you to back a team each-way, meaning half of your stake is placed on them to win, and half on them to reach the final.

If they reach the final but do not win, you will be paid out for half of your bet, normally at half of the overall odds.

England are among the favourites, and you can find more England World Cup odds on our dedicated Three Lions page.

World Cup Winner Odds (3 Nov 2022)

How to Bet on the World Cup Top Goalscorer 

Rather like the World Cup winner market, there may be each-way betting possibilities in the top goalscorer category.

On Bet365, for example, the each-way terms are 1/4 of the odds if your player is in the top four goalscorers.

So, if you back a player at 28/1 and he comes in the top four, that half of your bet would be a 7/1 winner.

Golden Boot Odds (3 Nov 2022)

Summary

Hopefully, by now you know the basics of World Cup betting and how to get going.

If you're still undecided on which betting site to go for, let Ben take you through three of his top choices.

My Recommended World Cup Betting Sites

  • Betfred - Renowned for having the best football promotions and excellent welcome offers, this is a great starting point for beginners.
  • Bet365 - Perhaps if you're a bit geekier and like more stats-based bets, this is the best of the bunch and the app is so nice to use.
  • BoyleSports - A trusted, long-standing bookie with over four decades of experience in the business. Nothing to be skeptical of here.

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