What is Football Betting? Football Betting Explained in 2 minutes
Jesse M. Cox Last Verified
08/09/2026
What is Football Betting?
Football is undoubtedly the world’s favourite sport and therefore it is no surprise that betting on football is incredibly popular all over the globe. Thanks to improvements in the digital world, the availability of football – and information surrounding the game the world over – has never been greater. This has had a huge impact on the amount of money spent on football betting through many of the legal online bookmakers you can find.
Most bookmakers are able to offer football markets 24 hours a day as there are usually matches taking place somewhere in the world and increasingly knowledgeable customers are only to happy to bet on games in other countries.
How is Football Betting used in Sports Betting?
Football is the most popular sport to bet on and there are hundreds of markets to choose from on most of the big matches. To find any soccer game to bet on all over the world check out our odds comparison page. You'll not only find games there to bet, but also get to compare odds on those games between different sports books.
World Cups, the English Premier League and other major tournaments can attract a huge amount of money in betting but on most betting sites there will be smaller games and leagues well represented as well.
Popular football bets include outright winners of tournaments or individual matches – as well as first goal scorer and the ever-popular accumulator bets. You will also often find the 1x2 markets, if you want to check these out in more detail you can find our guide on three way betting explained here.
The Football Pools began just under 100 years ago in the UK and the number of people wanting to predict the outcome of matches has only grown ever since.
As with any type of betting the key is to find the value in the odds and with football being so popular as a sport many people believe that they have enough knowledge and insight to find the most attractive bets. To help grow your knowledge of the game be sure to check out our Football Betting Strategy Guide.
Did you know…
Leicester City winning the 2015-16 English Premier League title was a massive shock. The dominance of clubs such as Manchester City and Chelsea meant that some bookies offered odds of 5,000/1 on Leicester – meaning that there were some very happy fans at the end of the season!
