PARIS: Global betting revenue for the upcoming World Cup is likely to be &quot;in excess of $50 billion&quot;, betting expert Darren Small told AFP, for an event he labelled &quot;the biggest circus in town.&quot; The revenue will be significantly higher than the 2022 edition, partly because the quadrennial football fiesta has been enlarged to 48 teams from 32 in Qatar. Another factor, according to Small, Managing Director of Managed Trading Services at Sportradar, is that punters have become more &quot;interested in the celebrity of a player&quot; than in the old days of betting simply on a team. Sportradar Group AG is a global sports technology company that says it creates immersive experiences for sports fans and bettors. &quot;We expect a lot of interest around the player props and what we call bet builders or custom bet options,&quot; Small told AFP in an interview. &quot;So we&#39;re anticipating that that&#39;s going to be a big drive for us. We&#39;re going to see a lot more interest on that. &quot;So players scoring left foot, right foot, number of passes, tackles, whatever the numbers are. &quot;Then subsequently the customers taking that and building out narratives like stories of &#39;I think this game will be X team to win with both teams to score, player X scoring with his head and there being 15 corners&#39;.&quot; &quot;The sheer size and scale of this tournament will ensure it is the biggest betting event ever,&quot; David Stevens, head of Public Relations at English bookmaker Coral, told AFP. Stevens said Bet Builder was &quot;one of the fastest growing areas of our business&quot; which sates the appetite of a &quot;new, younger customer base&quot; who are looking &quot;for more dynamic betting opportunities.&quot; Small said most money in bets already placed with Sportradar&#39;s 250 sports books clients across the globe has gone on Argentina and France. However, Stevens said there remains a considerable number of people hoping England end a 60-year wait for a second World Cup. &quot;They are in fact third favourites, behind only France and Spain, and should Thomas Tuchel end 60 years of hurt, we bookmakers will be facing a significant payout,&quot; he said. &quot;However, the increasingly global nature of our business means an England victory would not be as costly as it would have been a decade ago, for example.&quot; Peculiar not sinisterAbout the individual stars, great interest surrounds the Golden Boot for top scorer, with French star Kylian Mbappe and Norwegian hitman Erling Haaland attracting lots of money. &quot;In excess of 20% of our volume and our tickets... have been struck on Haaland so far,&quot; said Small. However, Small is more intrigued by another name that features for the moment in the top 10 of potential top scorers, thanks to bets placed. It is fair to say that Port Vale, who have just been relegated to the fourth tier of the English league, have not had many players represent them at a World Cup finals. However, the club&#39;s New Zealand striker Ben Waine is the one where the money is being placed. &quot;We&#39;ve seen a bit of a run on New Zealand&#39;s centre forward into the top 10 of the betting for the World Cup,&quot; said Small. &quot;It&#39;s really strange, as in peculiar not sinister.&quot; Both Small and Stevens agree that the geographical spread of the matches at a tournament being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico presents problems. &quot;The only challenge that we have is obviously times, from the European audience perspective,&quot; said Small. &quot;The West Coast games will put a bit of pressure on that because they&#39;re going to be difficult to follow for the people who are trying to follow from Europe. &quot;But we&#39;ve also got a very active South American region now with Brazil and others.&quot; There has been little interest in a US win, but should they cause a huge upset, then their captain might face competition from President Donald Trump as to who holds the trophy aloft. &quot;Should the USA defy odds of 40-1 and lift the trophy, expect very short odds about the President being at the center of the celebrations!&quot; said Stevens.

Football

According to experts, the betting revenue of the FIFA World Cup 2026 will be significantly higher than the 2022 edition, partly because the quadrennial football fiesta has been enlarged to 48 teams from 32 in Qatar.



Global betting revenue for FIFA World Cup likely to exceed $50 billion

TEHRAN: Iran&#39;s World Cup squad will travel to Turkey on Monday for a training camp, friendlies, and to complete visa applications before heading to the United States, head coach Amir Ghalenoei said on Saturday.&nbsp;Team Melli will be returning to Antalya, where they trained and played friendlies in March.&nbsp;They are taking a squad of 30 players, which will have to be trimmed to the World Cup maximum of 26. Perhaps the best known is 33-year-old former Porto striker Mehdi Taremi, now with Olympiacos.&nbsp;&quot;Selecting 30 players for this final training camp ahead of the World Cup was the most difficult technical decision of my coaching career,&quot; Ghalenoei told the Iranian football federation website, adding that he had selected players solely on &quot;technical criteria.&quot;&nbsp;Iran hope to play two friendlies in Antalya. They have already confirmed one match, against Gambia, on May 29, said Sam Mehdizadeh, an Iranian-Canadian who heads a company that sets up friendlies for the team.&nbsp;Iran and the US cut diplomatic ties in 1980, and the players are expected to use their time in Turkey to complete the necessary procedures for obtaining visas.&nbsp;&quot;No visas have been issued yet,&quot; Mehdi Taj, the Iranian football federation head, told Iranian media on Thursday.&nbsp;Taj said players were expected to undergo fingerprinting in Turkey as part of the visa process, but wished to avoid traveling more than 450 kilometers (280 miles) from Antalya to Ankara.&nbsp;Taj is expected to hold talks with FIFA president Gianni Infantino as Tehran seeks assurances for its squad amid heightened tensions due to the ongoing war.&nbsp;When the squad reaches the US, Iran will set up their base camp in Tucson, Arizona.&nbsp;They are due to kick off their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, before facing Belgium in the same city and then Egypt in Seattle, in Group G.

Iran’s 30-player World Cup squad will travel to Turkey on Monday for training, friendly matches and US visa processing before heading to Arizona. Coach Amir Ghalenoei will reduce the squad to 26 before matches against New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt.

Iran confirms squad heading to Turkey for World Cup preparation

NEWARK: World Cup fans will have to pay $150 -- more than 10 times the normal price -- for the quick round-trip train between New York and Meadowlands Stadium when it hosts the tournament&#39;s final and seven earlier matches, local officials said Friday, drawing outrage. The 36 miles (56 km) round trip for visitors to the sports complex in New Jersey, just outside New York City, usually costs only $12.90. &quot;We are going to charge $150 for our round-trip ticket on our system. So from New York to MetLife, MetLife back to New York,&quot; said Kris Kolluri, the president and CEO of NJ Transit, using another name for the stadium. Just 40,000 train tickets will be available for the eight matches at the stadium, which usually hosts the New York Jets and Giants NFL teams. But driving will be even more expensive. Limited parking options at $225 a space will be available at the stadium for fans with disabilities and in an adjacent mall for other supporters, according to the Just Park site. New York resident Guy Dixon, 42, told AFP &quot;I feel like that&#39;s an embarrassment and shame, and it&#39;s taking advantage of the fans.&quot; Trading blameNew Jersey&#39;s recently sworn-in Governor Mikie Sherrill defended the state transit organization&#39;s policies, saying on X Friday that &quot;FIFA put zero dollars towards transporting World Cup fans.&quot; The deal between FIFA and the previous New Jersey leadership also &quot;eliminated parking&quot; at the stadium, requiring the rail service to transport four times as many fans as it usually does, she said. &quot;This agreement will cost NJ TRANSIT at least $48 million, while FIFA is positioned to make $11 billion during the World Cup.&quot; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also wrote on social media on Tuesday, as initial reports emerged in The Athletic, that FIFA should foot the bill for transport costs to World Cup venues. But FIFA, which is already facing severe criticism over the sky-high cost of many match ticket prices, called New Jersey&#39;s move &quot;unprecedented.&quot; The soccer world governing body&#39;s World Cup chief operating officer Heimo Schirgi said the move to &quot;arbitrarily set elevated prices and demand FIFA absorb these costs is unprecedented.&quot; &quot;No other global event, concert or major sporting promoter has faced such a demand. While FIFA is projected to generate approximately $11 billion in revenue, not profit, as the governor incorrectly claims, FIFA has always been a not-for-profit organization,&quot; he added. FIFA said previously that the original host city agreements &quot;required free transportation for fans to all matches.&quot; At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, fans could use the Doha Metro for free with their matchday tickets. A re-negotiation stipulated that transport would be offered &quot;at cost&quot; on match days, FIFA added previously. &#39;Insane&#39; A French supporter group called the pricing &quot;completely insane&quot;. &quot;Every day there&rsquo;s bad news about transportation -- you really have to wonder how far this madness is going to go,&quot; said Guillaume Aupretre, a spokesman for the &quot;Irresistibles Francais&quot; fan organization. New York Governor Kathy Hochul also took aim at the reported price hike. &quot;Charging over $100 for a short train ride sounds awfully high to me,&quot; Hochul wrote on X. Some $100 million in US federal funding has been allocated to host cities for transit network costs, including $8.7 million for Boston and Massachusetts, and $10.4 million for the New York-New Jersey area, according to local media reports. England&#39;s Football Supporters&#39; Association (FSA) chief Thomas Concannon told the BBC &quot;every single thing coming out of this tournament so far is just fans getting fleeced.&quot; &quot;The price is obviously astronomical in terms of what you would expect to pay going to a match,&quot; he said Friday. &quot;We weren&#39;t expecting to be gouged.&quot;

Italy supporters react as they watch in a pub the FIFA World Cup 2026 European qualification play-off final football match between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Italy, played in Bosnia, in central Rome on March 31, 2026.

Just 40,000 train tickets will be available for the eight matches at the stadium, which usually hosts the New York Jets and Giants NFL teams.

'Gouged': World Cup fans to pay 'insane' $150 for NY stadium train ticket

BUENOS AIRES: Lionel Messi scored one goal and set up another as Argentina thrashed Zambia 5-0 on Tuesday in the South Americans&#39; final game on home soil before launching the defense of their World Cup crown.&nbsp;Messi, restored to the starting line-up by coach Lionel Scaloni after Argentina&#39;s lackluster win over Mauritania last Friday, made an instant impact in Tuesday&#39;s friendly at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires.&nbsp;The 38-year-old superstar set up the opening goal for Julian Alvarez before bagging his 116th goal for Argentina with an individual strike just before half-time.&nbsp;Tuesday&#39;s game marked a World Cup send-off for the reigning world champions, who will face Algeria, Austria and Jordan in Group J of the finals in June.&nbsp;Argentina will also play a friendly against Serbia in June, and are seeking to arrange another warm-up fixture before the tournament.&nbsp;Messi is firmly expected to captain Argentina into what will be a record sixth World Cup finals as the South American giants target back-to-back titles.&nbsp;The Inter Miami playmaker once again demonstrated his enduring influence on the Albiceleste with a typically decisive contribution in a comfortable win.&nbsp;Alvarez fired Argentina into the lead after just four minutes when Messi effortlessly controlled a lofted pass on the edge of the area and then threaded a pass into the feet of the Atletico Madrid striker to score.&nbsp;Messi doubled Argentina&#39;s lead with the 902nd goal of his career two minutes before half-time, working a clever one-two with Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister before tucking a low finish past Zambia goalkeeper Willard Mwanza.&nbsp;Messi could have added to his goals tally just after half-time when Argentina were awarded a penalty following Albert Kangwanda&#39;s foul on Thiago Almada.&nbsp;But rather than take the spot kick himself, Messi handed the ball to veteran defender Nicolas Otamendi, and the 38-year-old made no mistake from the spot for a 3-0 lead.&nbsp;An own goal from Dominic Chanda in the 68th minute put Argentina 4-0 up, before rising star Valentin Barco completed the scoring in stoppage time to make it 5-0.&nbsp;

Lionel Messi scored and assisted as Argentina beat Zambia 5-0 in a World Cup warm-up, with goals from Alvarez, Otamendi, Barco and an own goal completing victory.

Messi on target as Argentina down Zambia in World Cup send-off

BUENOS AIRES: Lionel Messi will start for Argentina in a friendly against Zambia on Tuesday in what is the reigning world champions&#39; final game on home soil before they defend their World Cup crown.&nbsp;Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said Messi, who began on the bench for Friday&#39;s lacklustre 2-1 win over Mauritania, will spearhead what is expected to be a full-strength side against Zambia.&nbsp;&quot;Messi will be in the starting lineup tomorrow,&quot; Scaloni said.&nbsp;Messi, 38, has not formally confirmed he plans to play in the World Cup but played a full part in Argentina&#39;s qualification campaign for the finals.&nbsp;Scaloni indicated that he expects Messi to be part of his squad for what would be the eight-time Ballon D&#39;Or winners&#39; sixth World Cup appearance.&nbsp;&quot;The important thing is that he comes and enjoys being at a World Cup &mdash; which, theoretically, will be his last,&quot; Scaloni said of Messi.&nbsp;&quot;We want him to enjoy it, because later on, you really miss playing in events like these.&quot;&nbsp;Scaloni said Messi on Tuesday will be surrounded by the established core of the team which topped South American qualifying and that will start the World Cup among the favorites for the title.&nbsp;&quot;Most of the players we know well will be playing. This will be the final test,&quot; Scaloni said.&nbsp;&quot;Later, we&#39;ll make some changes to take a look at some of the younger guys, but the idea is to field our most familiar lineup,&quot; he said, emphasizing that Friday&#39;s scrappy win over Mauritania was not representative of his squad.&nbsp;&quot;I am convinced that the team&#39;s performance level is not what we saw the other day,&quot; Scaloni said. &quot;If we see that the team isn&#39;t quite there, we&#39;ll look for other options. But they deserve a vote of confidence.&quot;&nbsp;Scaloni has already submitted a preliminary 55-player list to the Argentina Football Association, with the final 26-man squad to be confirmed at the end of May.&nbsp;&quot;I have the list pretty well figured out, but if performance levels aren&#39;t up to par, we&#39;ll take measures to ensure we bring the absolute best squad possible; we are striving for something as close to perfection as we can get,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;The players who have been with us for a while hold a slight advantage simply because we know them well; however, they have to maintain that advantage -- and everyone knows what happened the other day (against Mauritania) cannot be repeated.&quot;

Lionel Messi will start for Argentina in a friendly against Zambia, their final home match before the World Cup. Coach Scaloni plans a full-strength lineup, emphasizing squad performance and preparing for Messi’s likely sixth World Cup.

Articles tagged with "Football Worldcup"

Global betting revenue for FIFA World Cup likely to exceed $50 billion

Iran confirms squad heading to Turkey for World Cup preparation

'Gouged': World Cup fans to pay 'insane' $150 for NY stadium train ticket

Messi on target as Argentina down Zambia in World Cup send-off

Messi to start for Argentina in World Cup send-off: Scaloni

Global betting revenue for FIFA World Cup likely to exceed $50 billion