Essential Guide to the 2030 Football World Cup

World Cup Tipster Competition

We will be running a tipster competition that is dedicated to the 2030 World Cup. This competition is completely free to enter! Tips on the outright markets will count as well as tips on all of the individual matches (Except Correct Score & HT/FT markets)

The criteria are that each tip must include a comment of 20 or more words of reasoning for your selection, and you must place 15 or more tips over the duration of the World Cup, with 10 of those being profitable tips.

Then, as long as you finish in profit, you will be in with a chance of winning a cash prize depending on your final ranking, which will be updated each day, and you can keep track here.

You don’t need to do anything different in terms of placing tips; just place them as normal on the Make a Tip page, and they will be picked up in the tipster competition.

If you have not yet joined the tipster competition, now would be the perfect time for you to get involved, sign up on OLBG and then apply to become a tipster. It is that simple!

**Prize Fund and final criteria will be finalised closer to the tournament

World Cup Fixtures & Key Dates

Opening Match

The opening match is expected to kick off on the 8th of June. Whilst we await the format, possible expansions and hosting venues to be decided, the rest is unknown!

Group Stage Timetable

If there is no expansion, then we can expect the same as in 2026, with twelve groups of four teams making up the 48 teams.

If the tournament does get the go-ahead to expand to 64 teams, then we will more than likely add additional groups; it would be sixteen groups of four.

Knock-outs

The Last 32 was brought in after the expansion in 2026; it features the top two teams from each group as well as the top eight third-place teams.

If there is an expansion, will we see the 'Last 64' round introduced? It would more than likely mean they ditch the third-place qualifiers, meaning the top two from each group would advance.

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World Cup Groups & Draw Guide

If we remain at 48, then the top two from each group will advance to the knockout stages, and then the best eight third-placed teams will also advance, which means we will lose 16 teams in total after the group stage.

Group favourites

At the 2026 World Cup, there were not too many surprises in terms of who won the groups.

11 of the 12 groups went to the antepost favourites, which shows most went as expected in the end.

The only group which saw the favourites not win the group was in Group K; Portugal were favourites, but it was Colombia who finished top.

Potential “Group of Death”

Every tournament, we get that ‘Group of Death’, the group that you are praying your team is not drawn in because it is so competitive; there is a good chance of one of the big boys going out in the group stages.

Once the groups are announced, then we shall have a look at the potential 'Group of Death'.

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World Cup Venues & Host Cities

Below are the proposed venues from the three main hosts, which may be narrowed down depending on the number of matches to be played and should be finalised closer to the tournament.

Also listed are the three stadiums which will be used in South America for the three centenary matches.

World Cup Stadiums in Morocco

Four of the proposed six stadiums in Morocco are due for renovation to bring up the capacities, whilst the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium was only opened in 2025 and the Hassan II Stadium is hoped to be completed by 2028 and will become the largest football stadium in the world.

World Cup Stadiums in Portugal

The three proposed venues in Portugal are no surprise at all: two in Lisbon, homes of Benfica and Sporting CP and the other in Porto, home of FC Porto.

World Cup Stadiums in Spain

Spain has proposed eleven stadiums across nine different cities, which, as one would expect, includes the big two, the Camp Nou and Bernabéu. The Camp Nou has been under renovation, which has taken the capacity up to 105,000, and some would say it is one of the obvious picks to host the final.

Barcelona (Camp Nou & RCDE Stadium) and Madrid (Bernabéu & Estadio Metropolitano) are the two cities which have had two stadiums put forward.

World Cup Stadiums in South America

Whilst the main three hosts will not have their venues confirmed until much closer to the World Cup, one thing that is guaranteed is the three stadiums hosting the three centenary matches in South America.

World Cup Betting Guide

Here we are going to have a look at some of the main ante-post markets and highlight some of the past World Cup trends ahead of the 2026 World Cup. 

World Cup Outright Betting

Spain head into the tournament as favourites to become only the third team to win back-to-back World Cups. The 2010 & 2026 winners will have the bonus of being one of the host countries, with the final expected to take place in Spain.

• Only 8 different nations have won the World Cup.
• Germany has played in 8 finals, more than any other team.
• Argentina & Brazil are the next best (7), and then Italy (6).

Next in the market is France, and it is no surprise to them them well fancied as they generally turn up at the major tournaments. They have made the final at four of the previous eight tournaments and were crowned winners in both 1998 & 2018. They now also possess the World Cup leading goalscorer in Kylian Mbappé, and if in the same sort of form as he was in 2026, then that gives them every chance.

• 6 of the 23 World Cup Winners were the host nation.
• 16 of the 23 World Cups have been won by teams playing in their home continent.
• 9 of the 10 most recent World Cups were won by a team rated 7/1 or lower by the bookies.
• 5 of the 10 most recent World Cup runners-up started the tournament at double-figure odds.

Portugal are third in the market, which is probably influenced by them being co-hosts; will we see Ronaldo, and if so, how effective would a 45-year-old Ronaldo be? 

Brazil and England are next in the market; both are overdue a final appearance. Brazil, however, just cannot seem to replicate the Brazil of old, whilst England have been steadily improving.

Rounding out the top six of the antepost market are Germany; this looks like it will be Jürgen Klopp's first World Cup at the helm of Germany, that is if they qualify and he lasts the next four years there!

World Cup 2030 21 Jul @ 20:00 - Win Tournament
Spain	5.50
France	7.00
Portugal	8.00
Brazil	9.00
England	9.00
Germany	11.00
Argentina	13.00
Netherlands	26.00
Morocco	26.00
Italy	34.00

World Cup Top Goalscorer Betting

The number of goals needed to win the Golden Boot has varied over the years. Kylian Mbappé has now won the last two with 8 goals in 2022 and then 10 goals in 2026, the first player to get into double figures since Gerd Müller scored 10 in 1970.

As you can see below, if you want to land the leading goalscorer, then generally you want them in a team that will go far. If a team makes the semi-finals, then they are guaranteed 7 games; if they don’t, then they only get to play 5 games. That is a big difference when you are looking to hit the back of the net.

• In 8 of 20 World Cups where there was one winner, the top scorer's nation played in the final.
• In 3 of the 7 most recent World Cups, a top scorer played in the final.
• 13 of the 17 most recent winners/joint winners reached the semi-finals and/or played for the hosts.

Kylian Mbappé would be the first name on many lips because he is the all-time leading goalscorer at the World Cup finals; he became the first back-to-back winner of the Golden Boot and will now go for three on the bounce, and he will only be 31 at the next World Cup.

Difficult to know who will be leading the England line this far out; Harry Kane will be 36 going on 37, he may go as a backup but probably won't be the main striker. We could see a new face on the block by then: Divin Mubama, Ethan Nwaneri, or could Liam Delap come good?

World Cup Golden Glove Betting

The Golden Glove is probably one of the hardest ones to call, although a quality keeper is a good sign for a potential winner. You just have to look at past winners, Kahn, Buffon, Casillas and Neuer to show what quality can win this award.

Given the competitive nature of being the number one for your country, it's hard to call who will be going to a World Cup this far in advance (4 years!).

One thing is for sure: if Unai Simón is still the number one for Spain, then expect him to be the favourite for this award after his seven clean sheets and just one goal conceded at the 2026 World Cup.

World Cup Winners

Most Successful World Cup Winners

The World Cup has been lifted a total of twenty-three times, with eight different countries having held the trophy. England are the sole team sitting on one win, France, Spain and Uruguay have two wins apiece, and Argentina has three wins.

The top three in terms of success are both Italy (3rd) and Germany (2nd) for four wins, with Germany being held higher as they have more runner-ups (4 vs 2). The most successful country, though, is Brazil, who have lifted the cup five times, with the last of those coming in 2002 under Luiz Felipe Scolari.

World Cup Final Flops

Three countries have made multiple finals without going on to lift the cup. Both Hungary and Czechia have made it to two finals; Hungary made the 1938 & 1954 finals. They lost 4-2 to Italy in 1938 and then 3-2 to West Germany in 1954, whilst Czechia lost 2-1 to Italy in 1934 (AET) and 3-1 to Brazil in 1962.

The team with the worst record is the Netherlands, who have made it and been beaten every time in three finals. They made back-to-back finals in the 70s, first losing 2-1 to West Germany in 1974 and then losing 3-1 (AET) to Argentina in 1978, both those defeats coming to the host nations. Their third final came in 2010 in South Africa, where they had another match go to extra time, which they ended up losing 1-0 to Spain.

Last Ten World Cup Winners

Needing to go past 90 minutes is starting to become a thing in the finals; five of the last six finals were undecided after 90 minutes, with three being decided in extra time and the other two on penalties, which is quite significant when you consider only four of the first seven tournaments went past the 90-minute mark.

World Cup Golden Boot Winners

Most goals in one tournament

The record for most goals scored in a single tournament was at the 1958 World Cup hosted in Sweden. Despite only coming third, it was the French striker Just Fontaine who stole the show with an incredible 13 goals. He started on the right foot with a hat-trick in France’s opening match, a 7-3 win over Paraguay and ended the group stage with six goals. In the knockouts, he scored two against Northern Ireland in the Quarter-Finals and then a single goal against Brazil in a 5-2 defeat. France headed to the third-place game against West Germany, and Fontaine had a game to remember. France came out 6-3 winners, and Fontaine scored four of those six goals, meaning he scored in every game France played at the 1958 World Cup.

All-time scoring leaders

It was all change for the all-time leading goalscorer at the World Cup finals after the 2026 edition; Kylian Mbappé scored 10, and Lionel Messi bagged 8, which dethroned Miroslav Klose as the leading scorer, with him dropping down to 3rd with both Mbappé and Messi passing him,

As already mentioned, Kylian Mbappé is now the all-time leading scorer with 22 goals in 22 matches, and he is one ahead of Lionel Messi, whose 8 goals moved him onto 21 goals from 34 matches.

Ronaldo has now dropped down to 4th, whilst Harry Kane, who got 6 in 2026, has moved up to joint fifth, level with the legendary Gerd Müller on 14 goals.

1. Kylian Mbappé (22 in 22 - 1.00 GPP)
2. Lionel Messi (21 in 34 - 0.62)
3. Miroslav Klose (16 in 24 - 0.67)
4. Ronaldo (15 in 19 - 0.79)
5. Gerd Müller (14 in 13 - 1.08) & Harry Kane (14 in 18 - 0.78)

Last Ten Golden Boot Winners

Past World Cup Golden Glove Winners

The Golden Glove is awarded to the best goalkeeper of the tournament. When it was introduced in 1994, it was called the ‘Lev Yashin Award’ in honour of the Soviet goalkeeper, but was rebranded in 2010 as the ‘Golden Glove’.

Past Golden Glove Winners

World Cup Records & Statistics

Here are some of the individual and team records for the World Cup Finals before the 2030 tournament.

• Most appearances: Lionel Messi (34 Matches at 6 Tournaments)
• Most goals: Kylian Mbappé (22 Goals in 22 Matches)
• Fastest goal: Hakan Şükür (11 seconds in 2002, Turkey vs South Korea)
• Biggest win: Hungary 10-1 El Salvador (1982)
• Highest scoring match: Austria 7-5 Switzerland
• Highest attendance: 173,850 (Uruguay v Brazil in 1950)
• Youngest scorer: Pelé (17 years, 239 days)
• Oldest scorer: Roger Milla (42 years, 39 days)
• Most clean sheets: Peter Shilton & Fabien Barthez (10)

Memorable World Cup Moments

Hand of God

It was the 1986 World Cup quarter-final between Argentina and England at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City when, in the 51st minute, Diego Maradona beat Peter Shilton to put Argentina 1-0 up against England, but all was not what it seemed! Maradona had put the ball in the net using his hand, which was not spotted by the referee, with the goal being given.

Maradona said after the match, "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God", which gave the name to this famous moment, which somewhat overshadowed him, going on to score a second goal and arguably one of the best goals ever scored! A late Lineker goal was not enough to get England back in the game, and Argentina advanced with a 2-1 victory.

It took Maradona nineteen years to finally admit what he had done and to issue an apology, an apology which Peter Shilton was not impressed with and one he rejected because it was all too late!

Brazil 1–7 Germany

The hosts, Brazil, headed into the 2014 World Cup as strong favourites to lift the World Cup for a sixth time, and they opened their campaign with a 3-1 win over Croatia, followed by a 0-0 draw with Mexico and then sealed top spot in their group with a 4-1 win over Cameroon.

They needed penalties to see off Chile in the knock-out stages to advance to a quarter-final, where they beat Colombia 2-1 to set up a semi-final with Germany, and were just two wins away from winning the World Cup in their own country.

However, everything was about to go wrong for them in front of just under 60,000 spectators! Germany was looking for revenge after their defeat to Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final, and that is exactly what they got and in spectacular style!

Within half an hour of the match kicking off, Brazil found themselves 5-0 down! Müller opened the scoring in the 11th minute. There was not another until the 23rd minute when Klose scored and opened the floodgates, Kross added two more (24th & 26th minutes) before Khedira added a 5th in the 29th minute in 6 minutes of madness!

André Schürrle added two more later on in the match (69th & 79th minutes), and Oscar got a consolation for Brazil in the 89th minute to make it 7-1. That was the biggest defeat the Brazilians had suffered since 1920, and a day they would want to forget.

Geoff Hurst Final

The year it all came good for England, 1966, in their own country, with Geoff Hurst the hero in the final!

It’s the only final in the history of the World Cup that England have made it to, and what a time to do it, when hosting the tournament, which back then seemed to give countries a much better advantage than it does these days.

England opened up their campaign with a 0-0 draw with Uruguay before beating both Mexico and France 2-0, with Roger Hunt scoring three of those four goals and Bobby Charlton getting the other. Geoff Hurst got his first goal in the quarter-finals, a 1-0 win over Argentina and then a double from Bobby Charlton gave England a 2-1 win over Portugal to book their place in the final.

The final was set up against West Germany, a squad full of quality with the likes of Beckenbauer, Schnellinger and Seeler. 96,924 spectators crammed into Wembley to witness the final, but it was Germany who started better, taking the lead in the 12th minute through Haller, but it was only 6 minutes later that Hurst got his first goal to bring it level.

Martin Peters thought he had won it for England in the 78th minute, but Weber drew Germany level in the 89th minute and sent the game into extra time. Hurst got his second goal in the 101st minute to give England a 3-2 lead and then sealed his hat-trick and his place in history in the 120th minute, the last kick of the ball.

However, we have spoken of the Maradona controversy; well, this 4th England goal was also controversial. Many will remember the commentator, “They think it’s all over; it is now”, when Hurst completed his hat-trick; however, with modern technology, it is clearly shown that all of the ball never went over the line, and it should not have counted. Given it was virtually the last kick of the ball, it was unlikely the Germans would have scored an equaliser anyway.

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