With just hours to go before the 2026 FIFA World Cup kickoff, we head to Senegal, where the tournament is also experienced through sports betting. Over the past five years, the sector has gone digital. No need to go to a shop anymore—just a few clicks on a phone and you’re in. As a result, more and more bettors are jumping in. For them, the World Cup has already started.
In a group of young footballers from the same neighbourhood club, the outcome of the 16 June Senegal-France match is hotly debated. Anything seems possible, nothing is written in advance. Assane already has a plan: “I’m going to bet on two different apps, one for France and one for Senegal. That way, I’ll have my chances of winning. A friend called me and said, ‘Assane, I need money, come on, let’s place bets.’ I told him, ‘Let’s go, let’s try our luck.'”
Mohamed, for his part, doesn’t hide his passion for betting. “It excites me,” he laughs. For him too, the sports betting fever has begun, with the 2026 World Cup about to start. This young Dakar native has already placed wagers on the Lions de la Teranga‘s opening match against Les Bleus. “I’ve put all sorts of combinations. First ticket: Senegal to win. Second ticket: both teams to score. Then, Mbappé to score for France, Sadio Mané for Senegal,” he details. “I hope it goes that way because if it does, I win!”
“You lose more than you win”
Last month, Mohamed bet 80,000 CFA francs (about 122 euros) in total. On that sum, he has a net loss of 30,000 CFA francs (45 euros). Small stakes each time, but bets on every championship around the planet. “All competitions, leagues, Champions League, French Cup, in the US and even in China (laughs). There’s no limit, really. But you lose more than you win, that has to be said,” he admits.
Like many other Senegalese, Mohamed got hooked on sports betting right after Covid-19. At that time, betting apps flourished on screens. Practices changed. Malick Diouf is the founder of the Dakar Sport Summit, a conference dedicated to sports economics. “We are a majority-Muslim country where betting is frowned upon. The fact that it became digital lifted the taboo and allowed all social classes to play without being judged,” he analyses.
The sector is driven by three heavyweights: Russian operator 1xBet, French company Betclic, and Senegalese group Sunubet. Since November 2025, these companies have seen their revenues taxed at 20%. The same applies to bettors’ winnings. “The state makes money, but the money the state collects on sports betting should be used to fund professional and, above all, amateur sport,” argues Malick Diouf.
A much-anticipated period for sports bettors, the football World Cup is also a time of all excesses. Associations warn against growing cases of addiction.
