SBC News speaks with Betfair, Star Sports, Midnite and Flashscore in a bumper feature for its World Cup Betting Tour series ahead of England’s round of 32 tie with DR Congo.
Is anyone else nervous yet? England are set to take on DR Congo in the 2026 World Cup round of 32 in just a few hours’ time at the Atlanta Stadium in Georgia.
It’s been comfortable and fairly confident so far, despite the press and many on social media wanting us to believe otherwise…
England sailed through Group L, finishing top after wins over Croatia and Panama alongside a goalless draw with Ghana.
But with the knockout rounds now upon us, we’re all hoping that our fingernails will still be intact at 7pm after a straightforward England win, though it doesn’t seem like everyone is all that confident…
Ahead of the game, SBC News caught up with various bookmakers across the UK to see where punters have been putting their faith when it comes to England.
SBC News: We saw a big shock with Germany being dumped out by Paraguay on Monday night, and a ‘mini’ shock with Morocco beating the Netherlands. Are any pessimists backing a DR Congo win?
James Mackie, Spokesperson for Betfair: “The recent upsets have clearly encouraged some punters to look for another surprise. With less than 24 hours to go until kick-off, 40% of bettors are backing DR Congo to pull off a huge upset at 14/1.
“We’d expect that figure to fall as kick-off approaches, but Germany’s exit and Morocco’s win over the Netherlands have certainly convinced some bettors that another shock could be on the cards tonight.”
Dave Jolly, Head of Trading at Star Sports: “Shocks do happen and looking at the prices it’s a fair argument that the value sits with DR Congo, and I’m sure many of our Scottish customers will be interested in the 11/2 on offer for Congo to win the tie overall.”
Ben Cullen, Head of Risk at Midnite: “Most of the money is currently flowing onto England (win & -1), however, punters fancy DR Congo to score with both-teams-to-score being one of our biggest positions currently. England 2-0 has been popular and our biggest loss in the book.”
So, it seems that despite England fans gaining a reputation of arrogance and entitlement from the rest of the footballing world, we are still rather pessimistic about our national team.
England head into tonight’s game as one of the top five favourites to win the World Cup for the first time in 60 years, and there are signs to be optimistic.
The team boasted a perfect record in qualifying, winning eight from eight, and this new look side, guided by former Champions League winner Thomas Tuchel, played some of the most exciting football seen in years from an England team in blowing Croatia away in their opening game.
Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham has hit form, even though some were unfathomably calling for him to be dropped.
Harry Kane, a man who has come under all sorts of unwarranted criticism over the years, has scored an absurd amount of goals this season (70 in total for club and country) and is now England’s leading scorer at World Cups after his goal on Saturday against Panama.
Some have called for goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to be dropped. He has kept two out of three clean sheets so far and is now just one off the likes of Manuel Neuer and Iker Casillas for all-time World Cup clean sheets. Yes, to reiterate, one away from Manuel Neuer and Iker Casillas.
As mentioned above, it seems England fans have gained a reputation of being somewhat overconfident from football fans outside of the country. To those of us here, it has always been clear that there is constant negativity and pessimism.
But is anyone actually confident that we can in fact finally end these 60 years of hurt this summer?
SBC News: Has patriotic betting been a key theme so far this World Cup, and are more and more people starting to believe England can win it?
Dave Jolly: “England is our worst result and dominates our Tournament winner market, but they are actually no shorter today than at the start of the Tournament. Argentina is gaining support, where France and Spain are both currently winners for us.
“I think belief in England has waned after the group performances; however, we are now into the knock-out stage where victories create encouragement and I’m sure a win tonight will see the belief start to return.”
James Mackie: “Since the outright books opened, 13% of punters have backed England to win the World Cup, with the Betfair Exchange now offering an 11% implied probability that England can bring it home.
“Despite a lacklustre performance in their second group game, confidence hasn’t wavered as 90% of punters backed England to beat Panama in their final group game last Saturday.”
Of course, an England game at a major tournament generally tends to represent an opportunity for bookmakers.
With more eyes on the game, many will take their chances by having a flutter on the match.
But with so many bookmakers available in the UK now, operators must differentiate themselves to appeal to customers.
SBC News: With so many big operators competing for customers ahead of a game like this, how are you differentiating and offering new and existing customers value on England’s World Cup games?
James Mackie: “We are offering some great offers and promos ahead of England’s game tonight. Firstly, there is a 50% Bet Boost Token for all bettors giving punters the opportunity to back their own opinions getting more value on their bet builders with Betfair.
“Back It Or Bin It, our new free to play game launched ahead of the World Cup has started extremely strong and has a £10k jackpot for today’s round. Simply answer the bet builder-like questions to be in with a chance to win a share of the prize.”
Ben Cullen: “Various WC games have been our highest turnover events ever, and England v Congo has the ability to exceed those, as a 5pm kick off time allows both pre and live betting available to everyone.
“Marcus Rashford has looked sharp and we’ve boosted him to score or assist. The partnership of Bellingham and Kane have impressed so far and we’ve boosted Bellingham to score anytime & Kane to score a header.
“Interestingly, punters are flocking to betbuilder bets at a higher rate than we see in a premier league match.”
Dave Jolly: “Our aim throughout is to be top price England for their matches, and also for the more recreational player we are Top price most Correct Scores and First Goalscorers, these two markets are supported with a chance to win additional money with a free go at our “Minute of First Goal” market.
“We also understand the popularity of build-a-bet, where you can use your own views and judgement to create a bet. We are supporting this by offering anyone who places a B-A-B on the England game a free B-A-B on Spain v Austria. These are our most popular markets so therefore it’s logical to support them.
“Our reputation is built on the willingness to lay a fair bet, but our pricing strategy and offers throughout are geared at having something to suit everyone. We can’t compete on marketing spend, but what we offer is traditional bookmaking based on fairness and personal service.”
SBC News: How big has the World Cup been for your company so far, and how much more could a deep run for England aid that?
Flashscore: “The home nations dominated overall team interest in the UK. England was the most-tracked team with 872,900 profile opens, followed by Scotland with 394,200.
“England’s fixtures also commanded the top three spots for UK user engagement. Their opening match against Croatia drew 631,684 users and 2.9 million views, followed closely by the meeting with Ghana (2.21 million views), and Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Panama (2.05 million views).”
Dave Jolly: “For many years, racing has been our core product, driven by our willingness to lay a decent bet and our growing on-course presence, but we have a strong football offering and the success of the Premier League and home teams in Europe has seen fantastic football growth this year, which is reflected in our best ever World Cup numbers.
“England going deep will assist but we are seeing more interest across all matches and believe a lot of this is down to club loyalty, with around 180 current Premier League players at this year’s tournament and with the English club success in Europe driving interest in overseas clubs, there are more names recognisable to people than ever before.”