Over 13 million bets are expected to be placed on the 2022 World Cup on a single bookmaker site.
Paddy Power are bracing themselves for an average of 400,000 bets per day – the equivalent of 278 per minute - throughout the tournament in Qatar.
The bookies have already had over 60,000 bets on the tournament, with Brazil the most popular selection to win the tournament amongst punters.
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20% of punters have piled on 4/1 shot Brazil to win their first World Cup in 20 years, while Argentina are equally as popular at 11/2.
Predicting the winner of the Golden Boot is another favourite tactic of bettors, and it is French superstar Kylian Mbappe who is the most popular bet.
England, as always, will come under a lot of scrutiny for the tournament. Some football fans are predicting an early exit for Gareth Southgate's side, while others think they could lift the trophies.
It is with this in mind that Paddy Power released a line of reversible Christmas jumpers for capricious England fans to get their hands on via their social media channels.
The jumper sports the words ‘Sir Gareth’ on one side. But when the jumper is turned inside out, it declares ‘Southgate Out’ on the other.
After a poor run of results from Gareth Southgate’s men, England’s chances of winning the World Cup have drifted from 11/2 on April 1 out to 8/1 a week out from the tournament.
Rachael Kane, spokesperson for Paddy Power, said: “England fans might be famed for their passion, but when it comes to laying their money on the line, their allegiances wobble.
“We’re seeing an equal split between Argentina and Brazil as the most backed teams to win the 2023 World Cup, with quadruple the number of UK customers backing either nations over their own.
"A little more than one in ten (11%) of our UK clients are backing England to win, and although most believe they’ll come up Qatar heroes having lifted the trophy, the second most lightly scenario, according to our findings at least, is for England to flop at early doors and drop out in the Group Stage of the tournament.”
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