Seven potential betting anomalies flagged after the 2026 World Cup | OneFootball

FIFA said in an internal report that the 2026 World Cup showed no unusual betting activity or signs of match manipulation, following work by its integrity task force with the FBI and Interpol.

The Council of Europe said the Group of Copenhagen issued seven yellow notices during an operation covering all 104 matches. The body defines such notices as slightly heightened alerts based on multiple irregular indicators, including unexplained odds movements and social media rumours.

The Athletic reports that sources familiar with the monitoring identified South Africa midfielder Themba Zwane’s red card in the 2-0 opening defeat by Mexico as the first match to trigger an alert.

The Balogun episode also features, with a Polymarket market opening on 2 July asking whether he would play against Belgium. The United States forward had been sent off against Bosnia-Herzegovina and was therefore banned for the last-16 tie on 7 July, yet FIFA’s disciplinary commission lifted the suspension on 5 July after an intervention by US president Donald Trump.

Spain’s goalless opener against Cape Verde is also noted, after Polymarket was flooded with 4.8 million dollars backing a draw or defeat, as is the subsequent 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia, when VAR analysed a Ferran Torres goal for more than three minutes before disallowing it.

According to The Athletic, total wagering on the North American tournament reached 240 billion dollars, roughly double 2022, while industry expert Christian Kalb cautioned that volumes of this scale make firm conclusions difficult.

Source: L'Équipe