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How do bettors behave with regard to their favourite teams? Do they back them no matter what, or are they objectively calculating their chances?  When it comes to national team football at least, heart seems to win over head.

Just hours before the World Cup’s premiere in Mexico, Kaizen Gaming unveils exclusive proprietary data from its Betano platform, revealing users’ betting behaviours ahead of football’s biggest tournament. The data shows that the majority of fans tend to bet in favour of their home nation. In fact, when it comes to predicting the outright World Cup winner:

• In Argentina: 79% of local Betano users have backed La Albiceleste.
• In Brazil: 75% of users have placed their bets on the Seleção.
• In Germany, 57% are backing the Nationalmannschaft.
• In Portugal, 57% have selected their national team for glory.

Even in countries where the national team isn’t universally considered among the top tournament favourites, fans still show their deep faith. In Colombia, the national team received the second-highest percentage of tournament-winner bets at 19%, trailing only Portugal (24%).

On the other hand, in non-participating nations such as Bulgaria, Denmark, Peru, and Romania, the biggest favourites among users have been Portugal, Spain, and France.

Could a 41 Year Old Cristiano Ronaldo be the tournament’s MVP?

While Cristiano Ronaldo is today 41 years old, he is not just considered one of the tournament’s biggest stars, but also a very strong candidate to emerge as its most valuable player, especially after an impressive season in the Saudi Pro League, which saw him score 30 goals across competitions and become champion with Al-Nassr. In particular, the Portuguese superstar has received 21% of bets across markets on the Betano platform to receive the tournament’s MVP, followed by Spain’s Lamine Yamal at 12% and France’s Kylian Mbappé at 10%.

When it comes to the tournament’s top goalscorer however, Mbappé is the users’ clear favourite, capturing 26% of international bets. Completing the top three are England’s Harry Kane at 12% and Cristiano Ronaldo at 8%. With regard to assists, Mbappé’s French teammate, Michael Olise is the users’ first choice at 29%, after a magnificent season that saw him provide 31 assists to his teammates at FC Bayern. The second most popular choice is the Premier League Player of the Season, Bruno Fernandes, at 18%, with Lamine Yamal in third at 13%. As for the tournament’s Best Goalkeeper, most bettors have strayed away from main odds favourites like Argentina’s Dibu Martinez or France’s Mike Maignan. Instead, they have opted for Morocco’s Bono as their top choice at 18%, deeming it a high-reward opportunity. The top three also consists of Portugal’s Diogo Costa at 13% and Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois at 11%.

Brazilians bet on Brazil to be the tournament’s lowest-scoring team!

Betano users view France as the squad with the potential to be the tournament’s highest-scoring team. In particular it has received 28% of relevant bets, followed by Germany at 16% and Portugal at 14%. On the other side, Caribbean World Cup debutants Haiti (25%) and Curaçao (19%) are the users’ main choices as the tournament’s Lowest Scoring Teams.

In a stunning statistical twist, local users in Brazil, a nation traditionally associated with “jogo bonito” (the philosophy of playing beautiful football), bet on their own squad to struggle in front of the net – Brazil has received 11% of local bets to be the tournament’s lowest-scoring team, ranking third on that specific list alongside Haiti, Curaçao, Cape Verde, and Iraq.

Interesting local bets

In Argentina, Lionel Messi is the fans’ favourite to become the tournament’s top assist-maker at 29%, yet only 7% have selected him as the top goalscorer. Colombian users have shown their adoration for local star Luis Díaz, with 24% selecting him as the tournament’s top goalscorer, only behind Mbappé at 26%. Even more overwhelming is the support for James Rodríguez, who holds a massive 43% preference among local Colombian users to finish as top assist-maker.

Brazilians remain fiercely loyal to Neymar, with 16% backing him to be the tournament’s top player despite recent injury battles. Local users also have immense faith in their next generation of talent, with 53% selecting Real Madrid’s Endrick and 27% backing Bournemouth’s Rayan Vitor for the tournament’s Best Young Player award. Finally, in Portugal, both the top choices for the tournament’s top goal scorer have been local ones: Cristiano Ronaldo at 24%, and Bruno Fernandes at 16%.

*The data shared has been extracted on June 4, 2026.  More than 230,000 bets were analyzed in total across markets.  The international data sources may vary according to betting option availability per market. 

The post Bettors Rally Behind National Teams, Spotlight Mbappé, Olise and Ronaldo as Key World Cup Figures appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Betano, Kaizen Gaming’s premium online betting and gaming brand, is turning to gaming culture to dramatize the emotional pull of football fandom in its latest international campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Created by Wieden+Kennedy São Paulo, the campaign follows a lonely video game NPC (Non-Playable Character) who escapes the artificial world of a football game to experience the intensity, unpredictability and collective emotion of a real World Cup. Set to a reimagined version of the song “Mr. Lonely,” the film positions football fandom as something too powerful to be simulated.

The work launches under the global platform “Believing Makes it Real” and will roll out across 14 countries in South America and Europe, supported by live activations and fan engagement initiatives tied to the tournament. The campaign will be 360° with dedicated adaptations per country and three main character adjustments tailored to the cultural idiosyncrasies of different regions.

“The FIFA World Cup is the ultimate anchor in global sports, and for a campaign spanning so many different markets, we wanted to match that ambition. Our brief was to articulate the raw, collective emotion of being a fan, a feeling so intense it transcends even the most advanced digital simulation. This film captures that powerful truth, reinforcing our global platform, ‘Believing Makes it Real,’ and positioning Betano at the heart of the sport’s most genuine and unpredictable moments,” said Pablo Puertas, Kaizen Gaming – Betano, Marketing Director.

“Our challenge was finding a fresh, globally resonant way to talk about the World Cup. The campaign starts in a cold, automated universe and follows the journey of an NPC discovering what happens when an entire world truly believes. It’s a contrast that turns football emotion into something impossible to program,” said Felipe Paiva and José Ferraz, Group Creative Directors at Wieden+Kennedy SP.

The campaign also reinforces Betano’s growing relationship with FIFA. The brand was recently named an Official Tournament Supporter of the FIFA World Cup 2026 for Europe and South America, following previous partnerships around the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the FIFA Club World Cup 2025.

The 2026 edition — hosted across the US, Mexico and Canada — will be the largest in FIFA history, featuring 48 national teams for the first time.

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