2026 World Cup Draw: A look at odds movements

2026 World Cup: A brand new format and the biggest World Cup in history

As explained in our video above, the 2026 World Cup, which will be played in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, is the first of its kind. The number of teams in the group stage will increase from 32 to 48, meaning even more matches and even higher stakes.

And, of course, as soon as the draw has been made, we will be able to make more accurate predictions and offer you more reliable tips in our 2026 World Cup predictions. While France and Spain are currently our favorites, it will be important to keep an eye on their draw in the group stage.

You can find the World Cup pots here:

Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, United States, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, South Africa, Saudi Arabia
Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, plus four UEFA playoff teams and two intercontinental playoff teams

As you can see, only 42 of the 48 teams participating in this tournament are known. To find out all the qualifiers, we will have to wait for the results of the UEFA and intercontinental playoffs in March 2026.

As for the USMNT, they can avoid the worst but also find themselves in a very tough group on paper, having to face Croatia, Norway, and Ghana in the group stage, for example.

How will the odds fluctuate after the draw?

The draw for the 2026 World Cup will clearly affect the odds. Why? Let's take the example mentioned above. If a nation is among the favorites but ends up in a group of death, its odds of reaching the final will inevitably increase, as the path to victory will be more difficult than expected.

Conversely, if a nation considered an underdog (pot 2 or 3), for example, is lucky enough to get a favorable draw on paper, its odds could well decrease. The same will be true for a favorite, although the change is likely to be less significant.

2026 World Cup: New markets soon?

As soon as the groups for the 2026 World Cup are known, sportsbooks will gradually release other types of futures bets apart from the overall winner. As is often the case, you will have the opportunity to bet on the winners or qualifiers for each group.

It will also be an opportunity to place bets on a nation's progress (quarter-finals or finals, for example). Since all the matchups will be known, it will be possible to predict each team's progress in order to determine who will face off during the knockout stage.

If, for example, you find the odds for a team interesting, but you realize that they may face Argentina or Spain in the round of 16 or quarterfinals, it might be better to avoid placing the bet. On the other hand, if you see that the team's path looks manageable on paper up to a certain stage (the quarterfinals or semifinals, for example), even though the nation isn't necessarily expected to reach that stage of the competition, the odds could be worth taking!