The World Cup only comes around every four years, and it generates the largest global betting revenue. With the World Cup 2026 on the horizon, now is the time for bettors to start following the form of players going into the tournament.
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World Cup 2026 Betting
Betting on the Golden Boot (top goal scorer) and Golden Ball (best player) of the tournament provides exciting betting types that you can hopefully enjoy following throughout the whole competition if the player’s team goes far.
Sometimes the winner of these individual player awards are the favorites and you won’t get great odds but if you can pick an outsider, you can drop a big payout. The form of players often carries over into the tournament, so how they do over the last months of the domestic seasons will provide some crucial insights.
Of course, another important factor is picking players whose teams have a good chance of reaching the final. For example, in 2022 Kylian Mbappe won the Golden Boot, largely helped by a hat trick in the final to earn him a total of 8 goals.
The previous World Cup, Harry Kane picked up the Golden Boot with only six goals and did so without making it to the final. Croatia was the surprise package in this tournament, with Luka Modric getting awarded the Golden Ball, which had outside odds going into the group stages.
To help pick some good player bets, here are the typical odds currently available:
Top Goalscorer
Kane 7/1
Mbappe 7/1
Messi 12/1
Haaland 14/1
Yamal 14/1
Ronaldo 20/1
Vinicius Junior 25/1
Joao Pedro 33/1
Alvarez 40/1
Kane has been prolific this season and scored 60 goals over the calendar year 2025. England also progressed through the qualifying stage with a 100% winning record. However, England tend to fall short in big pressure tournaments.
Mbappe is leading the La Liga top scorers by some gap and France are always a good bet for reaching the final.
Argentina memorably won the last World Cup in 2022 in a classic final against France, but Messi will be 39 going into the tournament and playing in the MLS is arguably not as demanding as the elite European leagues.
Haaland was back to his best for the first half of the Premier League season before hitting a bit of a slump in terms of goals. Norway have not been to a World Cup in 28 years but they never had a player like Haaland leading the line.
Yamal has emerged as one of the most promising young players in the world and with Spain listed as favourites to win with many bookies, the expectation is that they will have a good run at the very least. 14/1 makes Yamal fifth favorite to win the Golden Boot, which lots of Spain and Barcelona fans will no doubt be backing.
Others to Consider?
Outside of the clear favorites, there are a few other players that could be in the mix.
Ekitike has hit great form for Liverpool and may make his way into the starting XI for France. With odds of 40/1, if he can break into the team, he could make an unstoppable partnership with Mbappe.
Ferran Torres is third in La Liga top scorer charts and you’ll get around 50/1 for him to win the Golden Boot, while Estevao has been scoring consistency for club and country, with odds of 33/1.
