We have reached the knockout phase of the 2026 World Cup and that means the volume of big games and big offers from online bookmakers is only likely to go up.
The Standard is your one-stop shop for all things World Cup betting, pulling together the best World Cup free bets, the latest match and outright odds, and providing tips on how to bet on the biggest sporting spectacle of the year.
England are in action this evening when they face DR Congo in the last 32 and we’ve pulled together the best betting offers for that clash in Atlanta.
Today’s free bet offers
We’ve pulled together our pick of the top World Cup offers for today’s games. There are several England vs DR Congo promotions, including welcome offers, free bets and money back specials.
|
Bookmaker |
Free bet offer |
How it works |
|---|---|---|
|
Sky Bet |
40/1 for Harry Kane to have a shot |
New customers only. Open an account with Sky Bet, deposit a minimum of £5, wager £1 on Kane – 1+ shots at the usual odds. If the bet wins, get a cash payout on the £1 bet with the extra winnings credited as free bets. |
|
Tote |
Money back on bet builders |
Wager up to £5 on an England vs DR Congo bet builder (4+ legs, combined odds of 3/1) and if it doesn’t win, get your stake back as a free bet. |
|
BetMGM |
Bet builder refund |
Build a bet builder for England vs DR Congo with four or more legs and select ‘second chance’ on the betslip. If the bet builder loses, get your stake refunded as a free bet builder bet. |
|
Paddy Power |
50/1 on a goal in England vs DR Congo |
New customers only. Open a Paddy Power account, deposit £5 and wager £1 on over 0.5 goals in England vs DR Congo. If there’s a goal, get a payout at 50/1 with enhanced winnings paid as free bets. |
|
Coral |
£10 free bet refund |
Opt in, wager up to £10 on an England vs DR Congo bet builder (3+ legs, minimum odds 2/1) and get your stake refunded in free bets if the wager doesn’t win. |
|
Betfred |
£5 free bet refund for losing bet builders |
Get your stake back (up to a maximum of £5) on all losing bet builders for Belgium vs Senegal. Bettors must opt in and put together a bet builder with 3 or more legs and combined odds of 3/1. |
|
Paddy Power |
Free bet builder bet |
Claim a free bet builder bet from Paddy Power (value will vary between users). Bet builders must have 3+ legs and combined odds of 2/1 to qualify. |
|
Bet365 |
Refund on losing England vs DR Congo bet builders |
Opt in, put together an England vs DR Congo bet builder, click ‘use money back in free bets’ on the bet slip and place your wager. Get your stake refunded in free bets if it doesn’t win. |
|
Betfred |
Bet £10, get £10 |
Opt in, build a bet builder for England vs DR Congo (3+ legs, minimum odds 3/1) and wager at least £10. Receive a £10 free bet upon settlement. |
|
Sky Bet |
£1 free bet for England vs DR Congo |
Join BetUK’s free bet club and wager a minimum of £10 on a World Cup bet builder with combined odds of 2/1. Get a £5 free bet the following week. |
World Cup betting offers – July 1
The Standard’s betting experts have picked out the top offers from World Cup betting sites, featuring unique sign up offers and the latest promotions from online bookmakers.
The Sky Bet World Cup offer for new customers has been constantly updated throughout the tournament and they have two offers on the go right now. There’s a special welcome offer, featuring enhanced odds of 40/1 on Harry Kane having a shot on target vs DR Congo. Winnings from that bet are paid as free bets.
The usual Sky Bet offer is a £0.05, get £30 in free bets promotion. While not the biggest welcome offer, it is tough to beat in terms of value for money.
There’s a chance to claim a share of £5 million with Sky Bet too. Wager £5 or more on the World Cup winner market to be in the prize draw, which will pay out if England win the tournament.
The Sky Bet Club provides a free bet for those punters who place five or more World Cup wagers, whilst price boosts are available for every game on Sky Bet’s excellent mobile app.
The Paddy Power World Cup offer has changed throughout the tournament, with the bookie regularly running special offers for selected matches. England’s last 32 tie with DR Congo is one of those selected games, with bettors able to get odds of 50/1 on a goal being scored in that clash via the link above.
The standard welcome bonus is a bet £10, get £50 in free bets scheme. The free bets are paid as bet builders.
England bettors will also be interested to know that there is a free bet builder bet available for every England group stage game.
With Paddy’s Rewards Club, enhanced odds, free bet builder for every England game, and Paddy’s Wonder Wheel, there is plenty of draw to Paddy Power’s World Cup offerings.
New customers who sign up and bet a minimum of £10 on any event on the sportsbook receive £50 in free bets to wager on the World Cup via the Betfred World Cup offer.
Bettors can also secure a £10 free bet by wagering on every England match at the tournament. Put together a bet builder with three or more legs and combined odds of 3/1, and wager £10 to qualify.
Betfred are also running a bet and get offer for selected World Cup games, where punters can claim a £5 in-play free bet by wagering the same amount on a qualifying fixture.
On top of that, there’s money back on losing accumulators, and the unique double-delight & hat-trick heaven promo.
The Betfair World Cup welcome offer includes £30 in free bets. The free bets are exclusively for bet builders, which may or may not suit football bettors.
Bettors can also claim a £10 free bet every week of the tournament with Betfair. Opt in and wager £10 or more on an accumulator or bet builder to receive a £10 free bet token for use on accas or bet builders.
Betfair all offer a 90-minute guarantee on all World Cup games. That means if a wager on a match result market is winning when the clock strikes 90, it will be marked as a winner, no matter the final outcome.
The popular BetVictor World Cup offer, which gives new bettors enhanced odds of 100/1 on England winning the World Cup, has been extended until July 6, which is the potential date of the Three Lions’ round of 16 clash.
BetVictor have a good selection of price boosts for the opening game on both singles and multiples, while bettors can use the Lucky Dip feature to get enhanced odds on a random selection on selected World Cup markets.
William Hill are all about the boosts for the World Cup, providing daily enhanced odds specials on selected matches, while offering a 50% winnings boost on successful bet builders.
There are also accumulator boosts available at Hills, while they will continue to enhanced the odds of selected outright bets throughout the tournament.
For new bettors, the William Hill World Cup offer is a bet £10, get £30 in free bets promotion, with the free bets eligible for wagering on the World Cup.
Tote’s welcome offer is bet £10 and get £40 in free bets, although not all of the welcome bonus can be used to wager on World Cup games.
Tote’s top World Cup promotion is both novel and unique with bettors able to get their money back on losing World Cup outright bets if the team they backed goes out on penalties.
Tote are offering a maximum refund of £25 on those losing World Cup outright bets, while users can who bet £25 on accumulator wagers can get a £5 free bet each week.
Coral’s World Cup offer is a bet £5, get £30 in free bets. The free bets are split into £10 tokens, and all of them are eligible for wagering on football.
Bettors can also get their stake refunded on losing bet builders for selected World Cup matches, including England’s next game with Ghana. The Rewards Shaker gives punters the chance to claim a betting bonus every day of the tournament, including free bets and odds boosts.
Grosvenor have improved their welcome offer for the latter stages of the World Cup and is now offering £30 in free bets to use on any sport when bettors wager £10 or more at odds of evens or greater.
New users are also given a 100% profit boost token when joining, while Grosvenor are also offering a 25% boost token on World Cup bet builder bets.
There’s also cashback available on selected matches if certain conditions are met, with bettors eligible for a free bet refund up to £25.
Betway have some strong offers for the World Cup, including a bet £10, get £40 in free bets welcome bonus. The free bets that come with the Betway welcome offer are split 2 x £10 bet builder tokens and 2x £10 acca tokens, all of which can be wagered on the World Cup.
Regular accumulator bettors can also claim £10 in free bets each week of the tournament. To qualify, they’ll need to join Betway’s Free Bets Club and wager £25 or more on accas (3+ selections) in the space of a week.
There are also Betway boosts available on each game, with prices enhanced for a range of bets, and the free-to-play Fixture Frenzy, where bettors can win up to £25 in free bets.
World Cup price boost offers
Price boost offers are everywhere at this World Cup, with every bookmaker enhancing their odds across a multitude of bet types. Here are today’s best price boost bets:
|
Bookmaker |
Bet |
Price boost |
|---|---|---|
|
Midnite |
Harry Kane to score anytime |
8/13 > 5/4 |
|
BOYLE Sports |
Jude Bellingham 1+ shots on target |
2/5 > Evs |
|
Paddy Power |
Harry Kane 1 or more shots on target |
1/2 > Evs |
|
Tote |
England, Belgium & USA to win |
5/2 > 3/1 |
|
William Hill |
Harry Kane to score anytime |
8/13 > Evs |
Bettors can find the best odds for World Cup fixtures below. The odds are live, so any changes made by bookmakers will be reflected instantly.
2026 World Cup outright odds
Below are live outright winner odds for the 2026 World Cup, which will change significantly throughout the tournament.
What to look at when picking a World Cup betting offer
The Standard reviewed all the World Cup offers listed on this page before putting them forward. Here are some of the criteria we considered when looking at free bet promotions and other offers.
Welcome offer value and qualifying stake
We weigh the value against the qualifying stake, as a high free bet figure means little if the qualifying bet is £20 at evens, for example.
Headline figures (£30, £40, £50) are only one factor – lower qualifying stakes often win out for casual bettors.
Free bets can be paid out in different ways, which might impact the overall value of an offer.
For example, bonuses split into 4x £10 free bets give bettors more wagering options, allowing them to potentially diversify their bonus, whereas one big £40 free bet token forces a single decision.
Restrictions on qualifying bets and free bet tokens can also make or break a welcome offer. Bettors should look out for minimum odds restrictions or caps on winnings from World Cup free bet offers.
Bettors may also be hindered by the type of wager a free bet can be used for. If the bookmaker offers a large bounty of free bets for joining, but all the free bets are restricted to correct score or more niche markets, the offer loses some value.
Some World Cup betting offers require bettors to wager any winnings, which subtracts from the value of any welcome offer.
Ongoing World Cup promotions
Plenty of bookmakers will continue football-specific promos such as 2 Up, money back on losing bet builders, acca insurance, daily price boosts, and free-to-play games for the World Cup.
Ongoing promotions provide return value for bettors, so regular punters are set to benefit more from promotions.
How to bet on the 2026 World Cup
The Standard has an in-depth guide on how to bet on the World Cup with plenty of useful insights, but for those seeking some quick hints and tips, here’s our top advice for World Cup betting.
Understand World Cup betting markets
Knowing how each betting market works and what has to happen in order for a bet to win is critical. Bettors should never bet on a market they don’t understand.
A novice bettor may want to keep it simple, wagering on markets like the World Cup winner or match result while building up their betting knowledge.
Outright vs match betting
Outright markets, such as tournament winner, top scorer, and Golden Ball, tend to offer the best value before the tournament starts, when the field is wide open and prices have not yet been sharpened by results.
Outright prices shorten quickly during the knockout rounds and that value tends to evaporate once the field narrows past the round of 16.
However, there are occasionally opportunities to get a bit of extra value on outright bets during the tournament following a surprise group stage defeat, i.e. Saudi Arabia beating eventual winners Argentina in 2022.
Match betting is the safer ground once teams are actually playing and form is visible.
Bet builders and accumulators
Bet builders combine multiple selections from a single match, such as match result, over/under, and an anytime goalscorer.
Accumulators instead combine selections from multiple matches and the odds compound across each leg.
Large accas can look tempting, with huge potential returns, but don’t forget the risk factor is being multiplied with each leg added, just like the odds. That being said, acca insurance is offered by some bookmakers such as Ladbrokes, which refunds your stake (up to £10) if just one selection of your 5+ leg acca fails.
Bet builder boosts, provided by bookies such as William Hill and Bet365, can also add a little extra value on the bettor’s side.
Reading odds and finding value
UK bookmakers default to fractional odds, but you can change odds to decimal in the app or website settings.
Bettors can work out their potential return with fractional odds: the right number shows the stake, and the left shows the winnings. So, if a £1 bet was placed at 3/1 odds and it won, bettors would make a £3 profit and also get their £1 stake back.
Decimal odds show how much you would receive back, including your stake. So, 4.00 in decimal odds is equivalent to 3/1.
The implied probability of a bet winning can also be determined from the odds. A price of 2/1 means the bookmaker rates the outcome at a 33.3 per cent of happening. If a punter rates it higher, that is where value sits.
You can find further value by comparing prices across multiple bookmakers using The Standard’s odds tool.
Bankroll discipline across a tournament
Set a total tournament budget before the opening match and stick to it – avoid chasing losses with bigger stakes on the next match.
Treat bets on your own nation’s matches with extra caution – emotional bets are usually bad bets.
What are the top World Cup betting markets?
The top betting markets for the World Cup tend to be the outright winner, top scorer and group winners before the tournament has started. Now the action is underway, the focus has switched to wagering on the games themselves with match result, both teams to score and player props all popular options.
What are the best World Cup betting offers?
The Standard’s picks are re-ranked daily based on the current state of each promotion and the World Cup.
Personal preference can play a big part in what a punter views as the best offer – if you prefer accas, promotions that offer an accas winnings boost or minimise risk with free bet refunds might be preferable over boosted in-play odds, for example.
Can you bet live on the World Cup?
Yes, every UK-licensed bookmaker on this list offers in-play betting on World Cup matches.
You can also watch and bet on the action with some World Cup bookmakers, with bet365, Paddy Power and Sky Bet live streaming each game on their platform.
What are the new rules regarding World Cup betting offers?
The UKGC introduced a raft of new rules in January 2026.
First, it mandated that casino bonuses cannot be promoted alongside sportsbooks. It also ensures that terms and conditions on betting sites are displayed prominently and are ‘clear, easily accessible, fair and open, and socially responsible’.
It also imposes a 10x wagering requirement cap on free bets and bonuses from online casinos.
We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This article is for 18+ only. Please gamble responsibly.
We aim to offer every online gambler and reader of The Standard a safe and fair platform through unbiased reviews and offers from the UK’s best online gambling companies.
Gambling can be addictive, always play responsibly and only bet what you can afford to lose. Gambling sites have a number of tools to assist you to stay in control, including deposit limits and time outs. If you think you have a problem, advice and support is available for you now from BeGambleAware or Gamcare.
Any offers or odds listed in this article are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change. Terms & Conditions apply to all offers.













