Best Football Betting Sites - Top 10 Bookmakers, Betting Guide, Markets and More

Few sports elicit the same levels of passion and excitement in spectators. The incredibly tribal nature of footie fans means that many will travel to the end of the earth and back for their chosen team!

Many fans love sports betting on their favourite teams and tournaments all-year round. Discover where to wager your hard-earned cash, while exploring the most popular betting markets and taking on board some of our expert football tips!

🏆 Best Football Betting Sites

We’ll start by taking a look at the best betting sites for football in Ireland and UK. These include companies that have made their mark both online and on the high street, while they’re also among the most reputable and secure betting brands around!

1️⃣ BoyleSports Football Betting Site

BoyleSports is a true behemoth in Ireland, with more than 300 brick-and-mortar betting stores and a huge presence online. Certainly, you’ll find a wealth of international football betting markets in play at BoyleSports, from the EPL and Champions League to third division football in the Czech Republic and even Algerian youth matches. This brand also places a tremendous emphasis on in-play football betting, including the next goalscorer, real-time match wagering and over / under markets in relation to the total number of goals scored.

2️⃣ Ladbrokes Football Betting Site

While UK giant Ladbrokes may also have made its name on the high street, it’s now synonymous with online sports betting and offers markets across more than 40 different disciplines. Football betting remains the single most popular Ladbrokes market, however, with the brand offering comprehensive coverage of Europe’s top five leagues and all UEFA club competitions. Ladbrokes is also among the best betting sites for finding competitive odds, so it’s a firm favourite among football punters across the board.

3️⃣ PokerStars Football Betting Site

While the PokerStars brand may be synonymous with online casino gambling, it has evolved to become a popular player in the sports betting market. It certainly provides detailed comprehensive of English football betting markets, including the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two. PokerStars is also renowned for offering unique and inventive wagers to customers, while you can even request your own football bet and receive competitive odds.

4️⃣ William Hill Football Betting Site

Few betting brands are as well known as William Hill, which counts football among nearly 40 different sporting disciplines that you can wager on. William Hill also boasts one of the largest and most diverse range of football betting markets in the world, covering domestic tournaments and leagues from the UK and Europe to Australia and Zambia. William Hill also provides extensive coverage of international markets and women’s football, while offering micro wagers such as the total number of cards or corners that will be recorded in a particular match.

5️⃣ Sportaza Football Betting Site

Like PokerStars, Sportaza is a betting brand that isn’t especially well-known, but it has begun to make its mark in the Irish market of late. To this end, it’s especially prominent in the sport of football, offering a comprehensive range of markets in the UK, Europe and across popular international tournaments. Unlike some of its rivals, Sportaza is able to live stream football coverage to punters across selected tournaments, while there’s also the opportunity to wager on 33 additional sports categories in addition to football.

📱 Best Football Betting Apps

According to some studies, more than 50% of gamblers now wager frequently through their smartphone or similar mobile device. This has encouraged a growing number of firms to create dedicated and native apps for Android and iOS, which offer immediate access to football betting markets regardless of where you are. Here are some of the best football betting apps:

1️⃣ LeoVegas

Despite starting out as an online casino brand in 2011, it launched a dedicated sports betting vertical in May 2016 (just one month before UEFA Euro 2016). Since then, LeoVegas has continued to provide a comprehensive iGaming and sports betting platform in Ireland and the UK, even winning the ‘Mobile Operator of the Year’ at the 2021 EGR Nordic Awards. Having also moved effectively into burgeoning eSports betting markets, it now offers a complete and diverse wagering experience through native football betting apps.

2️⃣ BetVictor

BetVictor offers dedicated and casino sports betting apps on both iOS and Android, making it easier than ever to gamble through your preferred vertical. Through these apps, you can access one of the largest and most varied football betting markets in space, from domestic leagues in Ireland and the UK to tournaments in Australasia, North Africa and even the Americas. The BetVictor app also enables you to wager on various player and manager specials, creating complete betting opportunities across a range of tournaments.

3️⃣ Betway

Next up is Betway, which also operates a native betting app in both iOS and Android platforms. They’re also running a generous welcome offer to new customers who sign up through their apps, providing up to €30 in matched free bets so long as you make an initial first deposit of at least €10. If you prefer eSports, they you're definitely in good hands - Betway won 'eSports Operator of the Year' in 2022 at the SBC Awards ceremony.

The Betway mobile football betting apps are easy to use too, combining simple navigation with full access to a host of ante-post and in-play betting markets across both domestic and continental football leagues. This is definitely a viable option for both Ireland and UK customers.

4️⃣ TonyBet

TonyBet is a relatively new name in the world of sports betting, and one that primarily targets customers in Ireland and Europe. Founded in 2003, the brand has also created native sports betting apps for Android and iOS, both of which offer full and unlimited access to the site’s numerous sports and football wagering markets. We also found it incredibly easy to switch between pre-match and in-play betting in real-time through the app, so it offers an enjoyable gambling experience no matter how you choose to wager.

5️⃣ Unibet

Unibet is a household betting name in Ireland and the UK, and one that has developed native sports, casino and poker apps for both iOS and Android. The sports betting app from Unibet is also one of the most comprehensive on the market, as it offers highly competitive in-play betting odds with the ability to livestream thousands of sporting events in real-time every single year on average. As a football fan, you can also receive sport-specific notifications and schedule these throughout the year.

This football betting site proves its excellence year after year by the many awards to their name. Here's a quick rundown of the titles Unibet have won over the last couple of years:

• Sports Betting Operator - EGR Nordics Awards 2019
• Sports Betting Operator - EGR Nordics Awards 2020
• Socially Responsible Operator of the Year - International Gaming Awards
• Socially Responsible Operator - EGR Nordics Awards
• Corporate Responsibility Programme of the Year "Player Safety Early Detection System" - Global Gaming Awards

🆕 New Football Betting Sites

While popular and iconic brands like BoyleSports and William Hill continue to dominate football betting markets, this is a competitive space that continues to welcome new operators.

New Football Betting Sites	Review	Visit
	Luckster	Visit Luckster
	Betinia	Visit Betinia
	Royalist Play	Visit Royalist Play
	Rabona	Visit Rabona
	Palm Slots	Visit Palm Slots

We’ve outlined some of the best new bookmakers to bet on football below in more detail, so that you can make a more informed decision when choosing where to wager your hard-earned cash!

1️⃣ Luckster

We’ll start with Luckster, which combines casino and sports betting verticals and offers a particularly large range of football wagering markets. To this end, you can wager on leagues across the globe through this new football betting site, including Europe’s big five competitions and less renowned alternatives in Moldova, Luxembourg and even Peru. You’ll always find a diverse selection of ‘specials’ available at any given time through Luckster, including diverse and competitively priced combinations that will appeal to even seasoned punters!

2️⃣ Betinia

The Betinia sportsbook launched in 2021, with its MGA license enabling it to operate freely in Ireland and more than 50 countries in total. The operator’s average overall payout is highly competitive at 94%, while its ‘Cash Out’ and ‘Fast Markets’ features contribute to a flexible gambling experience. You’ll also find access to well over 200 pre-game football markets at Betina, and while the operator’s in-play markets need further development, there’s ample opportunity to wager in real-time here.

3️⃣ RoyalistPlay

Royalist Play is another relative newcomer to the online football betting market, and one that’s fully regulated and licensed in Ireland. While the site has yet to create native apps for iOS or Android, it does offer a responsively designed, HTML5 website that can be accessed seamlessly through both desktop and mobile devices. New customers can also claim a €25 free bet when you initially wager €10 or more, and this can be deployed across a broad range of domestic, European and international football markets.

4️⃣ Rabona

Rabona enables punters to wager on a little under 30 sporting disciplines, with football betting receiving some of the most comprehensive coverage. Rabona also manages to compete with more established rivals through its use of excellent features, including generous ‘cash out’ options and live streaming across a large number of events. Once again, the operator doesn’t feature native mobile apps on iOS or Android, but you can still wager freely through your smartphone through a responsive website.

5️⃣ PalmSlots

PalmSlots only launched in 2022, while this sportsbook has the distinction of allowing football fans to wager using selected cryptocurrencies. Accessible in Canada, the US and Ireland, it’s also a leading eSports betting provider, creating an extra layer of appeal that sets it apart from some of its rivals. In terms of football betting, PalmSlots also offers cash out and bet builder features, although it has yet to build live streaming, acca insurance or odds boost into its offering. However, while there’s much more to come from PalmSlots, the sportsbook still offer value to the Irish and UK football audiences.

🔍 Football Betting Tournament Guides

📑 Football Betting Guide

Now that you have a better idea of where you can wager your cash, the next step is to understand football betting, odds and pricing in a little more detail. This can be daunting if you’re new to sports betting and football’s broad range of wagering markets, especially when presented with may appear to be multiple potential outcomes, a broad selection of numbers and jargon that you’re completely unfamiliar with.

When getting started with sports betting, you’re essentially staking money on a particular outcome in a match or tournament. In football betting, you’ll usually bet on one team to win a particular game or competition, staking a fixed amount according to the odds (or price) laid out by the sportsbook. This type of wager is known as a ‘back bet’, with the odds determining your precise payout (in relation to your stake) if you’re ultimately successful. If you lose, the sportsbook will collect your stake and bank this as profit.

This is because sportsbook operate by ‘laying’ bets on every outcome that’s available to punters, in order to balance the sum of their wagers and guarantee themselves a profit. In this respect, their published odds reflect the amount that they’re willing to lay on each outcome not happening, and you’ll bet at this price in anticipation that the even in question will occur. It’s important to understand the relationship that exists between punters and sportsbooks and how odds facilitate this, as this is central to understanding sports betting on football and all other markets.

With this in mind, let’s delve a little deeper in our football betting guide and take a close a look at some of our current football betting odds!

💯 Football Betting Odds and Prices

Odds are used by bookmakers to establish pricing and reveal the implied probability that a particular outcome will occur.

As we’ve touched on, it’s sportsbooks that set odds when laying bets on the individual outcomes available to their punters. However, it’s crucial that they’re meticulous when setting individual prices, as this is central to them achieving a viable profit while simultaneously incentivising punters to place wagers.

OK, we hear you ask, but how do sportsbooks actually set their odds? Well, this is done by assigning a probability to every result in outcome, using a combination of complex algorithms, in-depth insight and power rankings (the latter of which are numerical representations of competitive strength that are directly comparable and help bookmakers to accurately predict sporting outcomes).

Once a sportsbook has calculated the probability of an outcome (which should add up to 100%), they’ll then add what’s known as “vig” or “juice” of between 5% and 10% to every price, in order to help guarantee a profit on each particular bet. This is why it’s so important to comprehend and compare available odds in relation to each outcome that you want to bet on, so that you can better identify value and optimise your own potential returns in the process.

We’ll explains odds and their importance to punters in a little more detail below, but here at BetinIreland, we work hard to ensure that we present the most competitive odds from the best betting sites. This enables you to compare the market in detail and ultimately make informed decisions!

We’ll also present tournament and event odds in table form, making it easier to compare prices at-a-glance. Here’s a selection of some outright odds for you to get to grips with!

1️⃣ Irish FAI Cup Odds

Team
Derry City	1.40	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
Shelbourne	2.75	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA

2️⃣ English Premier League Winner Odds

Team
Manchester City	1.20	1.17	1.20	1.16	1.20
Arsenal	8.00	7.00	7.00	6.00	8.00
Man United	34.00	41.00	34.00	41.00	34.00
Newcastle Utd	51.00	67.00	67.00	671.00	67.00
Tottenham	51.00	41.00	41.00	41.00	51.00
Chelsea	67.00	41.00	67.00	41.00	81.00
Liverpool	67.00	41.00	51.00	51.00	81.00
Brighton	501.00	251.00	251.00	1001.00	N/A

🎫 How to Bet on Football

At this stage, it’s important to look at how you can successfully bet on football and optimise your chances of winning. We’ll explore some key elements of football betting strategy below, but first we’re going to analyse some of the most popular bets and rewarding betting markets. So, let’s get into it!

📈 Best Football Bets and Markets

There are a number of bets that you can place when wagering on football, but some are considerably more popular than others. Here are some examples to keep in mind:

🏅 Match Winner

Betting on the winner of a particular match is incredibly popular, whether you place an ante-post wager or execute an in-play bet as the associated odds continue to change. Either way, you’ll simply have to select which side you believe win, or back the draw if you think that the participating teams can’t be separated. In some cases, you may even be able to identify ante-post match bets that eliminate the draw as an option, creating an even-money wager that has a better statistical chance of being successful.

🥅 The First (or Next) Goalscorer

Another popular wager (and one that can deliver significant payouts in some instances) is to bet on the identify of the first goalscorer in a particular game. If you’re a fan of in-play wagering (we’ll touch on this a little later in the guide), you can also bet on which player will score the next goal in the match, which is ideal if you want to back a defender to score from a set-piece at extended odds. This type of bet relies heavily on chance, but the level of risk is commensurate with the potential rewards.

✅ Outright Betting

Similar to match betting, outright markets enable you to select the team that will a particular tournament, league or competition. For example, you may want to back one or more sides to win the FIFA World Cup, with our recommended sportsbooks having all published their ante-post prices for each competing nation. Obviously, your team will have to prevail for the wager to be successful, while we’d recommend betting early as the odds are likely to shorten as the tournament draws near.

➕ Over / Under Markets

With over / under markets, you’ll often bet on the total number of goals that will be scored in a particular game. The spread here commonly occurs in the form of over or under 2.5 goals, while you’ll make your selection based on the two competing sides, their form and corresponding playing styles. You can also find other variations of over / under markets, including the number of cards that will administered during your chosen match.

▶️ Handicap Betting

With handicap betting, you’ll apply a virtual disadvantage to one of the two competing sides in order to alter the odds and potentially create additional value. This type of wager works well in instances where one side has a clear advantage over your opponents, as you can apply a handicap of -1.5 goals (or higher) to lengthen their odds without necessarily compromising your chances of winning. This type of bet should be used sparingly, ideally in cup matches where Premier League sides are drawn against teams from lower divisions.

⭐ Top Tournament Goal Scorer

This individual player market requires you to bet on the identify of a tournament or league’s top goalscorer, either as an ante-post wager prior to the start of the competition or once it has gotten underway. As an outright ante-post market, this enables you to access some genuinely competitive and extended odds, enabling you to optimise potential returns if you choose wisely. Bets of this type are most commonly placed on tournaments like the English Premier League and the FIFA World Cup, where the so-called “Golden Boot” is a coveted prize.

📋 Football Betting Strategy

When it comes to creating a viable betting strategy, identifying the best and most rewarding markets is only part of the equation.

In fact, you need to create a wider and more comprehensive strategy that’s largely focused on minimising losses and optimising your chances of winning. Here are some steps that you can take to achieve this objective!

1️⃣ Understand the Role of Odds

Understand bookmakers’ odds is crucial to any successful betting strategy, especially if your goal is to identify value and calculate any potential returns in relation to your stake.

In simple terms, fractional odds reflect the amount that a sportsbooks is willing to lay on a particular outcome not happening. For example, South American giants Brazil are 5/1 (6.00) to win the 2022 World Cup with most sportsbooks, who in this instance are willing to lay five-times the amount staked by a punter that this eventually won’t happen.

The odds also reflect your potential winnings, as you’ll also earn five-times the amount staked if your wager comes in (while also having the original bet returned to you).

Beyond this, the odds published by bookies also reflect the implied probability that a particular outcome will happen. This can be calculated using the formula ‘Probability (%) = B / (A+B), with the A / B values reflecting the odds ratio in play).

If we use the previous example of Brazil at the FIFA World Cup, the necessary calculation is 1 / (5+1) = 0.167. So, Seleção have a 16.7% of lifting the Jules Rimet trophy, and this information can be used to inform your bet and the precise amount that you’re willing to stake.

2️⃣ Recognise the Importance of Money Management

When it comes to placing individual stakes, it’s crucial that your decision making is part of a much wider and more comprehensive bankroll management strategy.

Managing your bankroll is a crucial part of betting both successfully and responsibly, and you should start by never wagering more than you can comfortably afford to lose during each day, week or month (depending on how often you wager). You can also use your chosen football betting site to help in this regard, as operators must now allow you to set deposit limits based on your bankroll and behaviour.

Having a fixed bankroll helps you to regulate stake amounts too, while we’d recommend tailoring your bets to suit the odds, implied probability and value proposition that applies to each particular wager.

In simple terms, we’d recommend staking a nominal amount when backing outcomes that have slightly extended odds (as the implied probability of an outcome occurring is lower and the returns significantly higher). Conversely, you can increase your stake amount when backing short-priced favourites, as this type of bet is more likely to come in while the rate of return is markedly lower.

3️⃣ Use Knowledge as Your Key Weapon

Unlike casino games of chance such as roulette and online slots, you can gain a competitive edge in sports betting through your knowledge, strategy and understanding of a particular sport or competing teams.

So, it’s important that you prioritise leagues and competitions that you’re knowledgeable about, as this affords you insight into participating teams, their key players and corresponding form (both home and away).

Such factors can make a big difference when betting on individual matches, as can real-time news such as injuries, suspensions and squad rotation may have a significant impact on the value proposition and eventual outcome.

Remember, targeting tournaments and teams that you’re familiar can help you to make the most of your bankroll and find the very best odds in relation to individual outcomes.

4️⃣ Football Matched Betting

On the subject of football betting strategy, it’s important to touch on the concept of so-called “matched betting”.

But what does this term actually mean? Well, when you place wager through a normal sportsbook, this is referred to a ‘back’ bet on a particular outcome. With matched betting, you’ll look to cancel out the risk associated with this wager by placing a ‘lay’ bet at a designated betting exchange like Betfair, typically at the same odds.

As we touched on earlier, a lay bet describes the wager placed by a sportsbooks that a listed outcome won’t happen, and this respect you’ll be performing the function of both the punter and the individual betting site simultaneously.

In simple terms, this means that you’ll ‘match’ your bet and essentially split your stake across two potential outcomes, which is ideal when targeting even-money wagers where the ‘draw’ is eliminated.

This is also an excellent way to optimise the value of free bet offers from sportsbooks, with this type of matches wager typically leaving you up to 95% of the free bet value in profit. This is because betting exchanges (which operate separately to sportsbooks) usually charge a nominal commission of 5% on all winnings, so you’ll need to factor this fact into your calculations.

5️⃣ Football Spread Betting

Spread betting is a term that’s commonly associated with the global financial markets, but it can also be used to profit from sports and football wagers.

In betting terms, a ‘spread’ provides a broad description of what will happen in a specified market for a particular sporting event, with this typically expressed in the form of a ‘sell-buy’ range.

For example, the spread for the total goals scored in a football match may be established by a sportsbook as between 2.8 and 3. This will be afforded fixed and relevant odds, and if you think that the actual outcome will end up higher than this range, you’ll opt to buy. If you think that the outcome will be lower than the specified range, you’d opt to sell instead.

When it comes to spread betting, which is accessible through licensed and reputable sites such as Spreadex, your level of profitability depends directly on how right you are in your forecast of an eventual outcome. Conversely, the level to which you’re wrong will impact directly on how much you lose, so football spread betting should be used mindfully and on a selective basis.

6️⃣ Football Live Betting (In-Play)

We’ve already touched earlier in the piece on so-called “in-play” betting, which refers to the wagers and micro bets that can be placed on live sporting events as they unfold.

When wagering on your choice of football markets, however, there’s a clear distinction between in-play and micro betting. While the former broadly describes any bet on an outcome that can take place during a game, for example, the letter refers to a specific subset of events that are likely to happen fairly quickly.

For example, betting on which team will score the next goal in a game is considered to be a prime example of an in-play bet (as this can occur at any time, if it happens at all). Conversely, betting on which team will win the next corner is likely to be settled much quicker, with an estimated average of 10.29 corners being awarded each and every game.

Of course, both types of wagering require a responsible approach to gambling, as they are simply hundreds of in-play markets and events that can occur during a typical match. So, it’s important to manage your bankroll incredibly carefully when betting in-play, while potentially reducing your starting stake size in order to spread your available cash as far as possible.

♻️ Betting on Football Transfers

At different points in the typical football season, you may also have the opportunity to bet on individual football transfers or the next manager to be fired from their job.

The so-called “sack race” is widely discussed in the Premier League, for example, with this referring to the speculation about which manager is likely to be sacked next. Interestingly, as many as 10 coaches have been sacked in a single season in multiple campaigns, while four have already lost their jobs so far in 2022/23 (with Steven Gerrard being the latest).

The overwhelming majority of football betting sites also offer odds on this particular outcome, and you can wager at anytime if you sense that a club is about to part ways with their head coach.

As for transfers, you’re more likely to restrict your wagering activity to the two designated transfer windows in the summer and during the month of January.

Such betting markets can prove lucrative if you have in-depth knowledge of a particular club, their manager and likely transfer targets, while they create additional opportunities to wager at a time where leagues are embarked on their pre-season preparations (especially during the summer).

💻 Fantasy Football Betting

Fantasy football is a guilty pleasure (or chore, depending on how well you do!) for fans across the length and breadth of the country, with more than nine million players taking part every year on average.

But did you also know that fantasy football spawned numerous betting markets at most UK and Ireland sportsbooks? Each week, for example, you can bet on which player will score the most total points, while also wagering on the identity of those who will score the most goals, provide the most assists and individuals who you think will keep clean sheets.

There are a raft other markets too, depending on your choice of football betting site, while each potential outcome will be priced according to its implied probability and the nature of the matches in question.

In the current market, for example, you’ll usually be offered odds-on prices on Manchester City’s prolific Erling Haaland scoring each week in the Premier League. However, outcomes with extended prices often provide superior value, so once again, you use knowledge of the markets and competing sides to identify value and place better wagers through the season.

☑️ General Football Betting Tips

We’re going to bring our betting strategy section to a close, but first, we thought we’d offer a summary that includes some generic football wagering tips. These include:

1️⃣ Bet on What You Know

Remember, knowledge is power when engaging in football betting, as this is what sets all types of sports wagering apart from most online casino games and verticals. So, we’d always recommend betting in a way that leverages your existing knowledge base and understanding, whether this pertains to specific teams or competitions. For example, if you’re an avid Manchester United fan who can wager objectively and in a non-emotive way, structure your betting activity around the Red Devils’ matches and the tournaments that they participate in.

2️⃣ Never Bet More Than You Can Afford to Lose

While there are several takeaways from our brief introduction to bankroll management, the most important is that you should never gamble more than you can comfortably afford to lose within a designated period of time. This can be each day, week or month depending on how you structure your bankroll and the frequency with which you bet, while it’s also wise to use sportsbook deposit limits to regulate your activity along these lines.

3️⃣ Use Expert Resources to Your Advantage

As sports betting enables you to leverage knowledge and information to your advantage, it’s important to draw on this as much as possible over time. For example, our team at Betinireland regularly produces in-depth content and guides across different sports and competitions, while we also create detailed predictions for individual matches and outcomes. So, be prepared to use these to unlock valuable insights and hopefully making more informed decisions over time.

💶 Football Betting Sites Free Bet Offers and Promotions

In addition to comparing the odds published by our sportsbooks, you should also pay attention to the available free bets and promotions. Below, you can find a summary of the most generous welcome offers in play and learn more about whether or not they’re right for you!

Football Betting Sites	Free Bet Offers and Promotions	Visit
	100% Deposit Match Up to €100	Visit BoyleSports
	Up to €40 Money Back Bonus	Visit Unibet
	Claim up to €50 in Free Bets	Visit Mr Green
	Up to €125 in Welcome Bonus	Visit Betsson
	Get up to €450 in Welcome Bonus	Visit Nine Casino Sports
	50% Deposit Match Up to €50	Visit 10Bet Sport
	100% Sport Bonus up to €50	Visit Bethard Sport

• www.begambleaware.org

⚽ Tournaments Available at Football Betting Sites

While comparing ante-post and in-play odds is one thing, you’ll first need to identify the tournaments and events that you’d like to wager on at football betting sites. Ideally, you’ll use your existing knowledge base and understanding to target specific leagues or cup competitions, as this enables you to identify value in published odds and make the most of your bankroll. Here’s some of the many competitions you can bet on!

✔️ The FIFA World Cup

We’ll start with the FIFA World Cup, with the 22nd iteration of this iconic tournament set to start on November 20th in Qatar. Thirty-two sides will compete in the 2022 FIFA World Cup (this will increase to 48 in 2026), while sportsbooks typically offer a broad range of betting markets for this tournament. For example, you can place outright wagers such as backing each group winner or the team that you think will ultimately lift the Jules Rimet trophy, while also engaging in individual match betting and accessing popular player markets such as the tournament’s top scorer.

✔️ UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League remains Europe’s premier club football competition, and one that sees each country’s domestic champions and highest-placed sides compete for glory. Defending champions Real Madrid are the tournament’s most successful team with 14 titles to date, while the competition’s qualifying fixtures and group stage offer multiple opportunities for match, in-play and micro betting. You can also wager on individual group and tournament winners, while betting on the identity of the top scorer remains hugely popular among punters (Manchester City’s brilliant Erling Haaland is the odds-on favourite to achieve this honour in 2022/23!).

✔️ Europa League

The Europa League is Europe’s secondary club competition, and one that includes relatively high-ranked league sides and domestic cup winners from selected countries. It’s the rebranded iteration of the iconic UEFA Cup, while Spanish clubs have dominated by winning eight titles in 13 years since the tournament became the Europa League ahead of the 2009/10 season. Individual match is slightly less popular here as many of the competitors aren’t as well-known as UEFA Champions League sides, but outright wagering and in-play betting continue to be widely enjoyed by punters.

✔️ Olympic Football

Since 1886, football has also been contested as a Summer Olympics sport, with the discipline appearing in 29 separate Games over the course of 124 years. Since the Atalanta Games in 1996, women’s football has also been contested by competing teams from all over the world. This creates two sets of similar betting markets for you to target, including the eventual tournament winners, individual top scorers and the winners of specific groups. The next Summer Olympics will be held in Paris, 2024.

✔️ Euros (UEFA European Football Championship)

Like the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA European Championships are held every four years and unlock a wealth of team and individual betting markets. Italy won the last iteration at Euro 2020, after beating England following a tense penalty shootout at Wembley. The most popular wagers here are outright bets on the eventual tournament winner and in-play match betting, including the identity of the next goalscorer in a particular game and the over/under market for total goals scored. Twenty-four teams compete at the Euros, with the number having increased from eight since 1992.

📌 The Best Football Betting Leagues by European Country

Outside of these iconic international tournaments, there are also a number of incredibly popular leagues contested across the length and breadth of Europe.

These include the English Premier League, which is the single most-watched sports league in the world and regularly broadcast to 212 territories (and a total audience of around 4.7 billion people).

Including the Premier League, you’ll be able to wager on Europe’s so-called “big five leagues” at all of our recommended sportsbooks (as well as the Ireland Premier Division). Here’s a breakdown of what you can expect from each one:

📌 Republic of Ireland: The League of Ireland Premier Division

Irish footie fans will know the League of Ireland Premier Division well, with this premier competition on the Emerald Isle having been founded in 1985. Featuring nine sides from the Republic and Northern Ireland’s Derry City, the league has been won eight times by Dundalk while Shamrock Rovers (seven titles) are currently the defending champions. While you can bet on the League of Ireland Premier Division with most established sportsbooks, some of the newer operators may not offer the same betting markets.

📌 England: English Premier League

The aforementioned English Premier League was formed following a breakaway by all First Division clubs ahead of the 1992/93 season, while it has since evolved into the most watched and competitive league competition in the world. You can access a wealth of ante-post and in-play EPL betting markets through every licensed sportsbooks in the UK, most of whom also offer the opportunity to place micro bets on in-game events. Manchester City have dominated the competition in recent times (winning four of the last five Premier League titles), although their neighbours Manchester United have won the competition 13 times since its inception.

📌 Germany: Bundesliga

While the Premier League is the most watched domestic football competition in the world, Germany’s Bundesliga boasts the highest average in-person attendance (43,458) each season. This league also receives wide betting coverage among our leading sportsbooks, particularly those that boast a strong presence in continental Europe (such as Betway and Unibet). Of course, Bayern Munich continue to dominate this high-quality league, having won 10 consecutive titles and a staggering 32 overall.

📌 Spain: La Liga

Home to true giants of the game in the form of Real Madrid and Barcelona (who have won an impressive 61 league titles between them), Spain’s La Liga also boasts world class talent like Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior and the prolific Robert Lewandowski. The competition, which was established in 1929 as a replacement for the preceding ‘Catalan Football Championship’, also spawns all the usual betting markets, while you’ll find extensive coverage across all of our recommended and market leading sportsbooks.

📌 Italy: Serie A

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Italy’s Serie A was seen as the best league in the world, and one that was home to the biggest spending clubs and the legendary players of the day. While it’s no longer quite as well-resourced or widely watched as it once was, it remains highly popular in the UK and among bettors in particular. However, backing the outright winner of Serie A is arguably more difficult than ever before, with Juventus, Internazionale and AC Milan having all lifted the title in the last three years.

📌 France: Ligue 1

Very much the fifth of Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues, France’s Ligue One is often overlooked by punters in the UK. This has much to do with the fact that big-spending Paris St. Germain have won eight titles in the last 10 years, with the outright betting market not offering a huge amount of value for punters. However, both Monaco and Lille have won Ligue One since 2016/17, while building European football accumulators that include PSG matches may enable you to achieve some pretty impressive payouts.

🥇 Football Predictions

If you do decide to bet on any of the events or leagues referenced above, you may be interested to note that our expert team regularly publishes detailed and insightful football predictions.

These can relate to individual matches and high-profile tournaments, enabling you to understand the available betting markets in more detail and hopefully make more informed decisions.

So, be sure to check out our prediction pages ahead of particular tournaments or events and see if we can help you fill in your betslips!

✒️ Football Betting Expert and Tipster at BetinIreland.ie

Lewis Humphries is a business and iGaming copywriter from the UK, who has a passion for sports betting and online casino gaming. He's reviewed some of the world's leading casino platforms, while creating blog posts and landing page content for various sports betting brands.

His content has also featured on a number of different sites, including Life Hack, Investopedia, Yahoo Finance and Business Insider. He also pens regular sports features for sites including 90 Minutes, Think Football Ideas and Sportsblog.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions About Football Betting

At this stage, you should have a much greater understanding of sports betting markets and how you can attempt to leverage these to your advantage.

So, all that’s left is to answer some of your most frequently asked questions, including the following queries. So, let’s get into it!