The 2026 FIFA World Cup is now in full swing, with the first week of group stage matches having passed and the second week of games currently underway. This edition of the World Cup has been predicted to top the charts in terms of betting volume linked to any sporting event in history, and so, with that in mind, taking a look at the impact it is actively having in iGaming regional markets could offer some interesting insight.
Interest fluctuations with the World Cup in action
As expected, the first full week of matches has reportedly resulted in a significant boost in betting interest in several countries. In its weekly index, Blask stated that three of the top five gainers were LatAm jurisdictions, with one of the others the US State of Arizona, accompanied by the “unusual player” that is Japan, which is a country that has performed quite well so far at the tournament.
It is worth noting that the Blask Index gets its figures by tracking real-time iGaming player interest through analysis of Google search data, with positive increases indicating growing attention and negative decreases indicating declining attention.
Blask stated that for its findings here, it analysed World Cup and football-related keywords, including search patterns connected to the tournament, national teams, matches, betting intent, and other relevant terms for iGaming audiences.
Detailing the numbers behind the top 5 gainers of the week through 15 to 21 June, Blask data shows that Arizona topped the chart with a +71.4 per cent uptick, followed by Japan in second with +62.7 per cent, Bolivia with +56.4 per cent, Costa Rica with +54.4 per cent, and finally Peru in fifth with +34.4 per cent.
In terms of decliners, the US State of South Carolina showed the biggest decline through Blask’s methodology, with a -37.5 per cent downturn. Türkiye followed with -24.1 per cent, then the US State of New York with -18 per cent, with Montenegro coming in at a -12.7 per cent decline, and Switzerland rounding out the five with a -10 per cent decrease.
Regional snapshots
Taking a closer look at some statistics related to regions, Blask said that the only gainer in Europe was Germany with a +28.1 per cent increase. It commented that Türkiye, Montenegro, Switzerland, and Slovakia “all declined under active enforcement pressure or grey-market friction”.
Blask commented that the regional pattern is a “two-speed market,” with “event-plugged licensed jurisdictions gaining while suppression-impacted markets compress”.
It continued that Western Australia’s -9.8 per cent decline noticeably sits in the opposite direction “with no in-window trigger identified”.
With regard to the African Continent, Blask said that Africa recorded undifferentiated declines, with Chad and Botswana coming in at -8.5 per cent and -7.2 per cent downturns, respectively. Blask remarked that these declines “continued the compression pattern seen in smaller sub-Saharan markets”.
It noted that South Africa, which suffered a defeat to Mexico in the opening match of the 2026 World Cup on 11 June, did not return to the index’s top 10 following a decline of 8.2 per cent in the previous week following the Mexico match. Blask commented that this is “indicating the event-hangover drag is stabilising rather than deepening”.
What’s to come
Notable matches are set to take place throughout the week, including the US Men’s National Team’s final group stage match against already eliminated Türkiye, which was seen as a favourable dark horse prior to the tournament having started.
Blask commented that with LatAm search activity having been elevated for two consecutive weeks in light of the World Cup, “a competitive South American result could extend the regional run into a third week”. Although it added that an early elimination from the groups for the likes of Ecuador or Panama would likely “instead trigger sharp mean-reversion across multiple markets”.
The World Cup so far has already resulted in a betting surge across a number of regions, and the iGaming activity is expected to increase as the tournament progresses towards the knockout stages, where the viewership on a per-match basis tends to go up until it eventually culminates with the highest viewership being registered for the final.
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