The battle for global football supremacy continues in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
The 2026 World Cup finals are being staged across 16 venues in the United States, Canada and Mexico. 48 teams were split into 12 groups of four competing for the right to be crowned world champions.
With the Round of 32 among us, the odds are taking shape as potential routes to the final are revealed.
Monday night saw an exit for one of the pre-tournament favourites. Germany lost to Paraguay on penalties in Boston after a 1-1 draw in normal time.
How will that affect the odds as we continue through the round of 32? Check the last World Cup odds below.
Check out the latest World Cup winner odds and outright betting offers below.
The latest World Cup 2026 outright odds
Who will win the 2026 World Cup?
France
France have been installed as the new favourites to lift the trophy for the second time in eight years. They ended the group stage with three wins from three and all three victories were secured with relative ease.
France came so close to retaining the trophy in Qatar. Ultimately, they fell at the final hurdle against Argentina four years ago — despite Kylian Mbappe’s hat-trick.
Les Bleus did, of course, win the trophy in 2018. Their squad packs star quality and incredible strength in depth. Not only is there the captain, the phenomenal Mbappe, but even more incredible young talent now supplements the Real Madrid superstar, thanks to the emergence of Rayan Cherki, Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue.
In Didier Deschamps, they possess a manager who has experience and know-how in international tournaments. He ensures that experience continues out on the field with a healthy helping of players from the successful 2018 squad that continue to feature on a regular basis.
Spain
Spain’s odds have lengthened a touch after they were remarkably held to a goalless draw by debutants Cape Verde.
However, given their performance in winning at Euro 2024, we can’t rule them out just yet. They showed their true quality by putting Saudi Arabia to the sword and eliminating Uruguay from the competition.
This seems to be one of the more cohesive international teams of recent seasons. La Roja are one of few teams able to combine tactical intelligence with ingenuity in attack.
Of course, Lamine Yamal is the star boy for La Roja, and all eyes will be on the 18-year-old at his first World Cup — he netted the opener against the Saudis. But he isn’t a lone ranger in this Spain outfit by any stretch of the imagination, as fellow Barca youngsters Pedri, Gavi and Pau Cubarsi will support him, among a host of other talented players.
The majority of this Spain squad played under head coach Luis de la Fuente at youth level, and that seems to have created an understanding and togetherness that can rarely be matched on the international stage. Expect La Roja to be very difficult to overcome in North America.
England
It’s been a case of what ifs and near misses for England in recent international tournaments as they’ve reached the quarter-final stage as a minimum in each of their last four campaigns under Gareth Southgate — including back-to-back European Championship finals. But there’s a new man at the helm as the Three Lions head to North America next summer.
Thomas Tuchel’s reign had an underwhelming start but has been gathering pace, and the Three Lions won all eight of their qualifying matches without conceding a goal.
There’s endless talent in the English ranks, but the most impressive thing about Tuchel so far has been the simplicity. He’s just put good players in their best positions, rather than trying to make allowances to force a star name into the lineup.
Having reached the final of the last two European Championships and failed to win either of them, the long-suffering England faithful will be hoping their long wait for an international trophy is finally set to come to an end in 2026.
Argentina
Argentina can be backed at 13/2 in the betting to win the World Cup this summer. Not only are they the reigning champions, but they’ve absolutely dominated Conmebol qualifying.
Lionel Scaloni remains in charge, and Lionel Messi, who scored a hat-trick against Algeria in their opening game, retains the captain’s armband. Messi followed it up with two goals against Austria to move to the top of the goalscoring charts.
He scored once more in the final group game against Jordan despite coming off the bench in that game. Every Argentina game is turning into the Messi show. The next instalment in the round of 32 will be against Cape Verde.
Brazil
It’s a new era for Brazil under former Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. Although the Selecao now have a manager with an undeniable pedigree, it seems a stretch that the bookmakers have installed them as sixth-favourites at this stage, given their difficulties during qualifying for the tournament.
Brazil finished fifth in Conmebol qualifying, 10 points adrift of leaders Argentina – though only one behind Ecuador in second. Defeat to Argentina and a draw against Venezuela at home and away defeats against Uruguay, Paraguay and Colombia were among the most disappointing results.
The Selecao didn’t get their campaign off to the best of starts, drawing 1-1 with Morocco in New Jersey. They bounced back to beat both Haiti and Scotland by 3-0 scorelines to secure top spot in the Group. That set up a round of 32 tie with Japan, which they won 2-1 thanks to a late winner from Gabriel Martinelli.
Portugal
Roberto Martinez will be hoping 2026 is the year he can finally lead Portugal to World Cup glory. The Selecao have demonstrated their capability for getting over the line, having won their second Nations League title last year.
Given the stature of their nation and the quality players they have produced over the years, Portugal’s World Cup record is surprisingly modest. Though Eusebio led them to a third-place finish on debut in 1966, only since 2002 have they been ever-presents at the finals. Their other World Cup semi-final appearance came in 2006.
Their squad absolutely brims with world-class players, Champions League winners and league title winners. Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Rafael Leao, Goncalo Ramos, Vitinha, Joao Neves, Ruben Dias – the list goes on. But all eyes will be on the evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo, who, at 41, is set for his sixth crack at the World Cup – and what he hopes will be the one which finally proves successful.
