The 2026 World Cup will be the biggest sporting event in human history, and it will do it with a field no tournament has ever had before: 48 teams, split into 12 groups of four, across three countries. From there, the top two teams in each group and the eight best third-place sides will move on to a Round of 32 before the competition turns single-elimination.
That structure is why Ladbrokes betting interest is building now. The tournament is still a year away, but the market is already sorting out who looks strongest under the expanded format, with Spain at +450, France at +500 and England at +600, ahead of Brazil at +800 alongside Argentina, Portugal at +900 and Germany at 14/1 at bet365 Sportsbook. For readers trying to understand how the new format could shape the race, this is the first real picture of where the heavyweights sit.
Kevin De Bruyne is part of that picture too, even if the context is different. Belgium’s 34-year-old remains the team’s central player, a reminder that the 2026 field will pull in established stars as well as new contenders. Belgium’s Golden Generation reached the semifinals at Russia 2018, and De Bruyne is still one of the names that gives any side a chance of making a deep run when the knockout rounds begin.
Brazil is the clearest example of how the betting market is reading reputation against recent history. The five-time champions have not won a World Cup in 24 years, were beaten in the quarterfinals in each of the last two tournaments and last reached a semifinal in 2014, when Germany beat them 7-1. Even so, the squad still carries elite talent, with Neymar expected to play a diminished role and attackers such as Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, Endrick and Igor Thiago in the pool, while Gabriel is described as perhaps the best center-back in the world and Carlo Ancelotti, a five-time Champions League winner, is in charge.
That is the contradiction inside the early odds: Brazil remains one of the favorites, but it is still projected behind Spain, France and England at every sportsbook in the prices released so far. The only two World Cups ever won by a team with double-digit odds came in 1982, when Italy won at 18/1, and in 2006, when Italy won at 11/1. For Brazil and every other contender, the 2026 tournament now looks less like a straight title chase than a test of how they survive a wider field, a new Round of 32 and a bracket that will leave little room for error once the first two rounds are over.
