Finding the winning formula to a 48-team World Cup with FIRST
With the FIFA World Cup 2026 approaching, the scale of what’s coming is becoming clearer.
This is not just another tournament. With 48 teams, 104 matches and a schedule that stretches across multiple time zones, the upcoming World Cup represents a different kind of challenge for sportsbook operators.
In a recent interview with SBC News, FIRST’s Chief Trading Officer Ivan Ivanov breaks down what this expanded format really means behind the scenes – and why many operators are underestimating the operational demands it brings.
The most obvious change is volume. More matches, more markets, more opportunities. But according to Ivanov, the real shift is not in quantity, but in how that volume is distributed.
Rather than a series of predictable peaks, the 2026 tournament creates something closer to a constant state of pressure. Traffic builds early and stays there. Match windows overlap. Player behaviour becomes more fragmented. And for operators, there is little room to reset between games.
This raises a more fundamental question: are today’s sportsbooks built to handle that kind of sustained intensity?
Beyond scale, the expanded format also introduces new complexity in trading. With more teams entering the tournament, some with limited international exposure, pricing becomes less straightforward. Familiar patterns are replaced with uncertainty, particularly in the early stages.
At the same time, expectations from players continue to rise. Speed, reliability and ease of use are no longer differentiators. They are assumed.
For operators, this puts pressure not only on infrastructure, but on the entire player journey – from first interaction to post-bet experience.
Ivanov also touches on a growing divide in the market. While larger operators may already have their World Cup strategies in place, smaller brands face a different kind of challenge. Competing on volume is no longer realistic. Instead, the focus shifts to localisation, relevance and product execution.
And then there is the question that sits behind every major tournament: what happens after?
The World Cup will drive massive acquisition across global markets. But without a clear retention strategy, that traffic disappears just as quickly as it arrives. Turning short-term activity into long-term engagement remains one of the biggest challenges operators face.
In the full interview, Ivanov goes deeper into how operators can prepare in the final weeks before kick-off, where the biggest risks lie, and how sportsbook infrastructure needs to evolve to match the demands of a tournament that doesn’t slow down.
