World Cup
2026 World Cup: Scotland storm up William Hill’s World Cup liability list
Leading bookmaker cut Tartan Army to 150/1 from 400/1 for World Cup glory after attracting several thousand outright bets.
William Hill’s World Cup outright book is headed by France (9/2) as the firm’s biggest liability, with Les Bleus accounting for 18.5% of singles stakes, but the real surprise is Scotland, who are the bookmaker’s second-largest concern despite attracting less than 1% of outright stakes.
Steve Clarke’s side were as big as 400/1 before being cut to 150/1 as several thousand single bets were taken on Scotland to win the tournament. Portugal (7/1) complete the top three liabilities in the outright market, accounting for 15% of singles stakes.
World Cup outright winner odds:
- France – 9/2
- Spain – 9/2
- England – 6/1
- Portugal – 7/1
- Brazil – 8/1
- Argentina – 9/1
- BAR – 14/1
In the Top Goalscorer market, Harry Kane is by far the bookmaker’s biggest concern with 20% of singles stakes at 6/1, ahead of Julian Alvarez (20/1) on 7% and Michael Olise (20/1) on 6.5%.
Top Goalscorer Odds:
- Kylian Mbappe – 11/2
- Harry Kane – 6/1
- Mikel Oyarzabal – 11/1
- Lionel Messi – 14/1
- Erling Haaland – 14/1
- Lamine Yamal – 14/1
- BAR – 20/1
The Golden Ball book sees Michael Olise as the biggest liability, accounting for 21% of singles stakes at 9/1, followed by Bruno Fernandes (16/1), who has taken 11% of stakes, while Joao Neves stands out as a lively outsider at 66/1 despite accounting for only 1.5% of stakes.
Golden Ball Odds:
- Harry Kane – 7/1
- Lamine Yamal – 15/2
- Michael Olise – 9/1
- Kylian Mbappe – 9/1
- Lionel Messi – 10/1
Spokesperson for William Hill, Lee Phelps, said: “France (9/2) are our biggest outright liability for the World Cup and Portugal (7/1) are another team we’d rather avoid, but the standout story in the book is Scotland, who are somehow our second-biggest concern despite accounting for less than 1% of outright stakes.
“That’s been driven by a huge number of patriotic singles – we’ve taken thousands of bets on Scotland alone, many when they were 400/1. Now they’re into 150/1, so while the individual stakes are small, the cumulative damage would be very real if they somehow pulled off the impossible.
“England’s Harry Kane (6/1) is the one we fear most for Top Goalscorer, accounting for a huge 20% of single stakes in the market, while Michael Olise (20/1) tops our Golden Ball liabilities.”
