FIFA World Cup 2026 Odds. Favourites and Predictions

Some Qualification tournaments have been completed, or very close to completion, whereas others have just begun. All Qualification tournaments will be completed by March 2026. Altogether, this Qualification process will see 45 teams join co-hosts USA, Canada and Mexico in the World Cup in June.

Let’s take a look at which teams have already qualified and which we predict will join them from each confederation, starting with AFC.

• The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) - Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea and Uzbekistan have already sealed their place at the World Cup. There are two more direct slots and one inter-confederation playoff spot still available for AFC teams. There are six teams that have entered the Fourth Round of Qualifying. These teams are Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman in Group A, and Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Indonesia who make up Group B. Both Group Winners will book their place at the World Cup. The runners-up in each Group will then enter the Fifth Round of Qualifying in a two-legged affair. The winner of this playoff will then enter the inter-confederation playoff.
• Confederation of African Football (CAF) - Morocco and Tunisia have both qualified for the World Cup 2026. There are seven more direct slots available for CAF teams, along with an inter-confederation playoff spot. There are 9 Qualification Groups in the CAF process, with Morocco and Tunisia already mathematically assured of their place. Looking at the rest of the Groups, it’s looking likely that Egypt, Senegal, South Africa, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Algeria and Ghana will join them, with Burkina Faso, DR Congo, Benin, Cameroon, Tanzania, Namibia and Madagascar likely to reach the second Qualifying Round. Gabon, who are in the same qualifying group as Ivory Coast, are assured of at least a place in the second Qualifying Round.
• Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) - Alongside the three co-hosts of World Cup 2026, CONCACAF have been allocated a further three slots, along with two inter-confederation playoff spots. Of the teams that haven’t been eliminated from qualifying, it looks likely that Suriname, Jamaica and Honduras will take the three automatic spots. The race for an inter-confederation playoff place is looking extremely tight, with any two of Curacao, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Haiti looking the most likely.
• South African Football Federation (CONMEBOL) - All of the available automatic spots from the CONMEBOL Confederation have already been filled by Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay. Bolivia, who finished seventh in Qualification, took the sole inter-confederation playoff place available to CONMEBOL teams. These playoffs will take place in March 2026.
• Oceanian Football Confederation (OFC). Only one automatic World Cup spot was available for OFC teams, which was taken by New Zealand. There was one inter-confederation playoff spot available, which was taken by New Caledonia.
• Union of European Football Federations (UEFA). No teams have yet secured qualification to the World Cup 2026 from UEFA. There are 16 automatic spots available, the most of any confederation. There are no playoff spots for UEFA sides. There are 12 Groups in the Qualification period, with the winners of each Group earning their place at the World Cup. The 12 runners-up will then enter a UEFA playoff, with the four best Nations League Group Winners, who don’t finish in the top two of their WC Qualifying Groups, for the second stage of qualifying. The top four take the remaining World Cup spots.

Odds are available for World Cup 2026 betting in Malaysia. The odds can fluctuate dramatically between now and the beginning of the tournament, which begins in June 2026. Outright betting is an incredibly popular way to bet on the World Cup, and there’s a number of teams who stand a realistic chance of being successful.

Amongst these teams are Spain, current European Championship winners; France, who won the World Cup in 2018 and were incredibly unlucky to lose the 2022 World Cup Final on penalties to Argentina; Argentina themselves, as the holders, are many bettors’ predictions to win it again; England, who have shown great improvement in progressing to the latter stages of recent tournaments; and Brazil who, despite an up-and-down qualification tournament are difficult to write off.

There are 48 teams competing in the World Cup 2026. While at the time of writing the qualification process is yet to be complete, betting sites in Malaysia are offering World Cup Winner outright odds for their users to consider.

In this section, we’ve chosen our top eight favourites to win the World Cup. We’ll analyse their chances and why they’re considered to be potential winners now.

While Spain had a poor (by their standards, at least) 2022 World Cup, their performances throughout Euro 2024 has led many to believe they can repeat their form in North America. Spain also won the Nations League in 2023. To date, they’ve only played two qualifying games in UEFA Group E, but they’ve won both convincingly. They beat Bulgaria 3-0, and thrashed Turkey 6-0 to make an impressive start to their Qualification process. Thanks to their Nations League ranking, Spain have already been assured of a play-off place, but it’s extremely likely they’ll qualify automatically.

France are also many bettors’ favourites to be successful in 2026. They came incredibly close to winning in 2022, losing on penalties to Argentina, and have started qualification in good form, winning both of their opening matches. A 2-0 win over Ukraine was followed up with a 2-1 victory against Ukraine.

England might not have won the World Cup since 1966, but have performed well in recent international tournaments. They lost the European Championship Final to Spain in 2024, which followed another Final in 2020 which saw a defeat to Italy on penalties. However, they’ve won all five matches in their Qualification campaign, scoring 13 goals and conceding 0 in the process. Some bettors are predicting that 2026 might be the year that England finally pick up their second international trophy.

Brazil are classed by many Malaysian betting sites as the fourth favourite to win the World Cup 2026. Their qualification campaign was up and down, winning eight, losing six and drawing four of their 18 fixtures. Despite the topsy-turvy form, Brazil qualified for the World Cup reasonably easily.

Current holders Argentina are also in our top ten favourites. They stormed their qualifying group, finishing nine points in front of second-placed Ecuador. Whether talisman Lionel Messi decides to play in this tournament is yet to be seen, but even without Messi, Argentina possess an excellent attacking threat, in no small part to Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez in particular.

Portugal are next in our favourites list. They’ve won two out of two in qualifying Group F, beating Armenia 5-0, which was followed up with a 3-2 win against Hungary. Portugal have never reached a World Cup Final, with their best performance coming back in 1966 with a third-place finish. However, they have enjoyed a recent tournament win after beating Spain on penalties in the 2025 UEFA Nations League Final.

While Germany currently sit third in their qualifying Group, we expect them to reach the World Cup Finals with ease. As with Spain and Portugal, Germany are guaranteed at least a play-off spot thanks to their Nations League ranking. They were beaten in their first qualification match, going down 2-0 to Slovakia. Germany did win their next fixture, though, with a 3-1 win against Northern Ireland.

Top Goalscorer betting is another popular Outright market for the World Cup. There are some excellent choices, with all top teams possessing attacking players with great goalscoring records.

Let’s take a look at who is in the running to be the Top Goalscorer at World Cup 2026.

• Erling Haaland. While Norway are yet to confirm their qualification, they’re in a great place to reach their first World Cup since 1998, and their first major tournament since 2000. The Manchester City ace has scored in each of Norway’s five qualification matches so far, as his side have won all five games scoring 24 goals in the process. Norway sit top of Group I, six points ahead of second placed Italy. Haaland has scored nine goals in those five games, scoring five in Norway’s 11-1 thrashing of Moldova.
• Harry Kane. The England striker has scored 74 goals in 109 games for England, including eight goals in 11 World Cup appearances.
• Kylian Mbappe. The Frenchman’s World Cup goalscoring record is fantastic, scoring 12 goals in 14 games so far. Mbappe has scored 2 in 2 in qualifying so far. He also won the Golden Boot in 2022, scoring eight goals as France made their way to the Final.

One aspect that can help bettors in Malaysia find value odds is by researching World Cup trends. It’s worth considering factors such as the teams who tend to perform well at World Cup tournaments, which players seem to enjoy playing on the world’s biggest stage, average number of goals scored in the group stage, how often a fixture is decided by penalties and how often a team has reached the quarter finals or further in previous World Cup tournaments.

For instance, France have reached the quarter finals or further in each of the last three tournaments. They were beaten finalists in the 2022 World Cup, winners in 2018 and reached the quarter finals in 2014.

Let’s look at the average number of goals scored. In the 2022 World Cup, there was an average of just over 2.6 goals per game during the Group stages. In 2018, we saw an average of just over 2.5 goals per group game, and the 2014 edition provided us with just shy of 2.7 goals per game on average.

The 2022 World Cup also saw the highest number of goals scored in any World Cup Finals, with a total of 172 goals scored.

There are many operators in Malaysia who will offer odds on if a game will go to penalties. Let’s look at some research. In 2022, six knock-out stage games went to a penalty shootout, including the Final between Argentina and France. In 2018 and 2014, four knock-out matches went to penalties. With so many teams closely matched in 2026, it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see a similar number in the next World Cup tournament.

There are many factors that can influence the odds on World Cup betting markets. Odds can shorten or lengthen depending on these factors. Before you bet on the FIFA World Cup 2026, it’s important to conduct thorough research into the match you want to bet on. Anything that can have an impact on how a game might play out should be considered. Doing this gives you a better chance of placing successful bets, as well as finding value in the odds.

Let’s take a look at the most common aspects that can result in a fluctuation of betting odds.

Team Form and Qualifying Performance

A team’s recent form can be a key indicator of how they might perform in the World Cup 2026. In particular, we can look at their form during qualifying, how many games they won, how many goals they scored, how many conceded and average possession percentage.

We can also look at individual player performances. For example, has a team’s striker scored in most qualifying games? Has the goalkeeper earned an impressive shots to save ratio? These factors can be important when assessing a side’s chances of winning their next game.

Of course, there can be a huge difference in quality between sides in the same qualifying group, and a particular team storming their group might not, in reality, be as impressive as the scorelines might suggest. However, good form can work wonders for confidence when these particular sides face an opposition of greater quality.

Squad Announcements and Key Injuries

Keeping a close eye on squad announcements is also an important factor. Generally, a new squad is selected in each qualifying period. Take note of the players who regularly make the squad and which players are often on the periphery.

It’s also a good idea to research key players and their records for their respective clubs. For instance, if a winger has a great assists record for their club, the potential is there for them to repeat the process for their country.

Take a look at injury records, too. While many squads taking part in the World Cup 2026 have an abundance of talent to choose from, injuries to key players can have a negative impact on how a team will perform, therefore diminishing their chances of progressing through the tournament.

Managerial Changes

Managerial sackings are common, and it’s worth researching which sides have changed manager in recent months. Often, a change of manager can result in a change of fortunes and while a side may have struggled, a new boss can often provide impetus into a squad.

Also consider which managers are under threat of losing their position, particularly if they fail to perform well during qualifying and the World Cup tournament itself.

Historical Head to Head Records

Another important factor to consider is head to head records. In particular, research specific World Cup records. There are many sides who won’t face each other during qualifying or other international tournaments and so their head to head record in previous World Cup tournaments can be an interesting topic to research.

For example, the only occasion where England have the possibility of facing Brazil, in a competitive fixture at least, is in a World Cup tournament. For obvious reasons, they won’t meet during qualification, with England part of UEFA and Brazil a CONMEBOL side. However, the previous World Cup results for England v Brazil can often go a long way in dictating how their next meeting might play out.

Host Nation Advantage

The FIFA World Cup 2026 has three host nations - USA, Canada and Mexico. Performing on home soil can sometimes spur on a side to perform better than you might expect them to.

Whether this is the case for 2026 is yet to be seen. However, it’s worth pointing out that the host nation has only won the World Cup on six occasions, with the most recent being France in 1998.

In addition to the above, there are many other reasons why a bookmaker might adjust their odds for World Cup betting.

One reason is betting volume. If a particular bet or market is proving incredibly popular, in other words, many bettors are placing the same bet, betting sites are likely to shorten their odds. If a bet or market is largely ignored by bettors, sites are likely to lengthen those odds. One of the reasons why a bookmaker might do this is to level their liability - if they didn’t shorten their odds and a huge number of bettors placed that bet, that’s a massive amount of money a bookmaker would be due to pay out.

Similarly, professional bettors tend to find value odds much sooner than others. When a betting site notices this trend, this tends to force them to shorten the odds quickly.

Another occasion where a bookmaker might shorten their odds is if a particular event has huge publicity surrounding it. If a specific World Cup match is taking social media by storm, or there’s huge hype around a particular fixture, betting sites tend to adjust their odds accordingly.

Almost every betting site in Malaysia will offer FIFA World Cup odds. You can find Outright betting options now, with match-specific odds and markets becoming available as we approach the start of the tournament.

You’ll also find World Cup bonuses and promotions available at most Malaysian online bookmakers. These can come in the form of welcome bonuses, such as deposit matches or free bets. There'll also be lots of bonus offers on individual matches, particularly the World Cup Final, so make sure you look out for these. Typical World Cup bonuses include free bets, deposit bonuses, cashback and refund offers.