French bettors setting World Cup wagering records

France’s sports bettors are setting new wagering records on the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the tournament is nowhere near over.

French gambling regulator Arjel recently disclosed its official statistics on local punters’ outlay on the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Over the 48 group stage matches between June 14 and 28, French punters wagered a total of €363m, more than twice the €166m wagered on the 2014 World Cup’s group stage and €73m more than the total €290m wagered on the entire 2014 event.

This year’s World Cup group stage wagering also exceeded the €297m wagered during the 51 competition matches of the 2016 UEFA European Championships.

Of the sum wagered so far on the 2018 tourney, €159m was placed with the 27k points of sale of the Française des Jeux (FDJ) retail sports betting monopoly. The remaining €204m was placed with Arjel’s 12 online sports betting licensees.