As disgruntled English fans mill around and carp about the scarcity of brew in Qatar, fans back at home are already plonking down wagers on the currently ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Gambling Insider reported. According to payment service provider Worldpay, UK fans will be betting 15% more compared to the 2020 UEFA Euros, with interest in one of the most controversial World Cup events to date growing as betting becomes more readily available in newly regulated markets.

Betting in the United Kingdom to Go up on the World Cup

According to Worldpay, the number of wagers should climb even higher should the English national team make it through the initial stages of the competition and into the knockout rounds. Alex Morgan-Moodie, who is the gaming vertical lead senior director at Worldpay from FIS, said that the first match in the event, between the hosts from Qatar and Ecuador, saw around 7,000 payments per minute at operators.

While the game itself was a poor showing, it was at a convenient time for British punters to watch at 4 pm GMT, making it a good betting market after all. Anyone who wagered Ecuador Under 2.5 has been able to bring home a payday. Morgan-Moodie is confident that the time of day has almost as much impact on the total betting volume as does who is playing, with game hours making all the difference in the total amounts of wagers placed in total.

According to Worldpay, the Euro 2020 saw 10,000 payments per minute right up to the start of the England versus Denmark semifinal. The World Cup 2022 is big, and it’s going to be even bigger in terms of total sports betting volume that passes through sportsbooks worldwide. In the United States, the total number of people betting on the sport is expected to reach 20.5 million.

Americans will bet as much as $1.8 billion on the World Cup 2022, even though soccer is not as popular in the country as it is in Europe. An earlier study by BettorOff claimed that 49% of all sports fans in the US will be betting on the World Cup.