The origins of football are up for debate but there have been signs of a variation being played as early as 200 B.C. in China. Similar games were recorded a couple of hundred years later in Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece, although there may be some evidence of these being closer in relation to modern-day rugby than football. Several other early cultures including the Inuit of Greenland, the Maori of New Zealand, the Turks of Central Asia, and the Indigenous people of North America, all had their own versions of football that they have played for centuries.

Medieval Europe was where the sport gained most of the popularity that still exists in the continent today, specifically in the U.K. where the earliest form of rules that mirror the modern-day rules were created. The earliest leagues and football clubs were created in the mid-1800s, and from here the different relatives of football including rugby and other styles were born. Currently, there is a professional football league for nearly every country in the world with most of the more competitive leagues being based in Europe.

The premier event in football is the World Cup where 32 countries around the world play to qualify for the worldwide tournament. The World Cup is held every four years and is held in a different country every time, the next one being held in 2022 in Qatar. The most recent World Cup tournament was held in 2018 in Russia and was won by France. The women’s World Cup is also held in off years from the men’s World Cup tournament with the next tournament taking place in Australia and New Zealand in 2023. There is also a Euro Cup which is held in alternating four-year cycles with the World Cup, however, this year’s tournament was postponed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Interesting Facts About Football:

1) There are many different variations of football which include, rugby, American football, Australian football, futsal, and kickball.

2) In North America only, the game is known as soccer. The word soccer comes from a different variant of football in 19th Century England, but now the two games are identical.

3) The traditional football has 32 pentagonal panels, one for each country in Europe.

4) Brazil has won the most men’s World Cups at 5 and the U.S. has won the most women’s World Cups at 4.

Ready to start betting on football games at your favorite online sportsbook? Look, you are going to be betting your hard-earned money on these games so it makes sense to do some research first and learn the best ways to bet on football online. While we cannot provide actual betting advice in this guide, we have accumulated some of our favorite tips to help you get your online football betting off to a fun and hopefully profitable start!

Tip#1: Set a limit on your bets and stick to it – Easily the single most important rule when starting out in sports betting. The excitement of how easy and fun it can be to bet on sports online, usually means players bet more than they can afford to when they first start out. Set a limit on how much you can afford to lose in a given week or month and stick to that rule. You should find that you are able to maintain your bankroll a lot easier just by instituting a bit of control. Remember, always bet responsibly with money you can afford to lose.

Using systems like proportional betting to help sustain your bankroll definitely helps and tries to avoid bets with low odds but higher payouts like parlay bets. Greed is the enemy of a sports bettor. Stick to single-game bets and while using proportional betting, wager a percentage of your bankroll each time.

Tip#2: Learn the odds system: There are times when the posted odds do not match what your read is on the game. If you can develop these edges in your own system then you will find that you can start being profitable when betting on football and any other sport for that matter. Remember that the posted odds are merely a guideline set by the bookmakers to get the most amount of action on both sides of the game, not necessarily an indication of how good each team is compared to each other.

Tip#3: Educate yourself on the rules of football: Football is a simple game to understand, play, and watch, but betting it can be a whole different story. We repeat, sports betting is never easy. There are so many different nuances and strategies that can play out in a football game that you have to be prepared for anything to happen. Learn the game and how the ebb and flow of a match can be used as knowledge to win your bets.

Another thing you can do to help your football betting is to watch the games rather than just reading the score recaps after the games are over. Try and learn how teams perform in situations like if they are on the road at an imposing stadium or playing in the morning or afternoon versus playing at night. Knowing these team tendencies can go a long way in helping you stay profitable as a bettor.

Tip#4:Find the bet types you are good at: This seems straightforward right? Learning which types of bets you succeed at more often can be a good indicator of which facets of the game you have a better understanding of. If you are good at betting on the first half totals then bet on the first half totals. If you are bad with who scores first, then don’t bet on who will score first!

Most reputable online sportsbooks will accept all of the usual forms of digital payments that we are so used to seeing on any website. Credit cards, direct bank transfers, and PayPal are almost universally accepted now across any e-Commerce platform you use.There are other newer options that have been gaining popularity such as eWallets and Cryptocurrencies, but they are far from being the standard and are less common than the big three options below:

1. Credit Cards: This is still the most common way that players can deposit right into their online sportsbook accounts. Most of the major companies are accepted including Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. Make note that some credit card companies do not allow the cardholder to make purchases on sports betting or gambling sites, so look into the rules of your credit card before trying to use it with your online sportsbook.
2. Direct Bank Transfer: A direct bank transfer is a debit from your personal bank account and is just as fast as paying by credit card and generally has a higher success rate for transactions than credit cards as well. You may need to enter your bank account details so have that information handy as you sign up for your online sportsbook account.
3. PayPal: Paypal.com is the premier site for transferring money online but you do need to sign up for an account and link it to your bank account before using it at any online sportsbook. It is safe, trustworthy, and easy to use and has become increasingly used at online websites as a method of payment. PayPal is great if you need to use different currencies as well.

Need some assistance or have some questions or concerns well don’t worry because you are not alone!

Every reputable online sportsbook provides their customers with 24-hour around the clock customer service. Because online sportsbooks and online casinos are around the clock, every day of the week, there is always some form of customer service available via email, toll-free telephone number, or an instant chat function.

These customer service representatives can assist you with anything from deposit or withdrawal issues to questions about specific football elated bets you have placed.

The actual game of football is easy to understand and easy to play. There are two teams on the pitch with eleven players aside: one goalkeeper and ten players playing in the field. There are countless formations that can be drawn up for football teams but the common positions include the defense which are full backs, a sweeper, midfielders, and forwards or strikers. Some teams may deploy more midfielders or more forwards, depending on what the other team is lined up as.

The ball has to be played with a part of your body other than your hands or arms, such as the chest, head, knees, and of course your feet. The only player who can use their hands during live play is the goalkeeper, or if a player is performing a throw-in from the sidelines. Substitutions can be made during a whistle or a stoppage in play, and have to be approved by the referee.

There are fouls and players can be issued a yellow card as a warning and a red card if they are to be ejected from the game for a violent tackle or if they have already received a warning earlier. A full game is played with two halves of 45 minutes each, equalling a 90-minute game plus additional injury time if there were any stoppages in play. If the game is still tied at the end of regulation there are a few different variations that can happen. There can be a golden goal, where the first goal scored wins the game. Or there can be a tie at the end of the overtime period, at which point the two teams will take part in a shootout to find a winner for the match.

Now that you are all set up with your online sportsbook and ready to start placing some bets on some football games, it is crucial that you learn the different types of bets that you can make. Like with any sport, online sportsbooks have made it possible to bet on nearly anything that can happen within a given football game. From total goals scored to the first team to score to individual player props, literally, anything can be wagered on. Let’s go over a few of the more basic types of bets and then a few more that are a little bit more fun and unique:

FULL-TIME RESULT

Unlike sports like basketball or American football, football is a sport for which you generally pick who you think the winner of the game will be. This is usually known as the moneyline, but for football we use the term Full Time Result. This is because often in football there can actually be a tie at the end of the game. Here is a brief example.

PARLAYS

When you combine two or more bets on the same ticket to win a larger amount it is called a parlay. Many professional bettors stay away from parlays as it is not believed to be a profitable long term endeavor.

BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE

This is exactly as it sounds, in football you can bet if both teams will score a goal or not. Depending on the offense and defense of each team, bettors can often get pretty good odds for this type of bet.

OVER/UNDER or TOTAL GOALS

Your online sportsbook will provide a goal total number and you can place a bet on whether the total goals scored in the game will be higher or lower than that total. You can also bet on individual team totals, or run totals for each half as well. Here is an example:

Real Madrid Vs. Barcelona (3.5)

The over/under number for this game has been set at 3.5 goals, so Real Madrid and Barcelona need to combine for at least four total goals for you to win the bet. If you bet the under, you would want both teams to combine for three goals or less.

CORRECT SCORE

This is a difficult bet to get right, but if you do it can be a pretty high payout because of how high the odds are. If you think the game will be fairly low scoring, it makes sense to scatter a couple bets amongst the low scoring options for this bet. Otherwise, this one is really a guess as to what can happen in the game.

PLAYER PROPS

Prop bets are gaining popularity and are bets that focus on individual player performance, rather than the whole team. For example, you can bet on how many shots Lionel Messi will have in the game or if Christiano Ronaldo will score a goal or not. Depending on your online sportsbook, these player props can get very specific and if you know about individual defensive matchups or goalkeeper strength, you may be able to create an edge for yourself for football prop bets.

FUTURE BETS

Futures bets are another part of the sports betting industry that is gaining a lot of popularity. In the futures market, players can place bets on future outcomes such as the outright league winner or team win totals. The best part about betting futures is that players are provided higher odds, the earlier they place their bets. The downside of course is that any funds player bets on futures bets will be tied up until the end of the season, or when a team’s win total is hit.

WHICH ODDS DO YOU PREFER

There are a few different types of betting odds that players can use and it is completely up to personal preference and has no effect on the bets or the outcome of the bets.

1. Decimal odds: These are easy to understand and make complete mathematical sense as they are directly proportionate to the amount you wager. If you bet $100 at 1.50 odds you will win $150.
2. American odds: These are slightly less clear to read but once you learn how the numbers work it makes sense. You will notice American odds use (-) or (+) symbols before their numbers with the (-) indicating a favorite and the (+) the underdog in the matchup.
3. Fractional odds: Again, similar to decimal odds mathematically but using fractions instead of decimals.

These can all be used depending on the bettor’s preference. Keep in mind that they are not interchangeable as 2.00 in Decimal odds does not equal +200 in American odds and vice versa.

The most popular and widely watched football league in the world is the English Premier League based in the U.K. It is the most broadcasted and watched sports league in the world with a T.V. audience of nearly 5 billion people worldwide. Other popular leagues in Europe include the UEFA Champions league, Primeira Liga, the Bundesliga, and La Liga in Spain.

There are countless professional sports leagues around the world with nearly every country having at least a very competitive football league to call their own. The United States created the MLS in 1993 and it includes 26 teams from across the U.S. and Canada. In the past, many European stars have transferred stateside to play in the MLS including David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Didier Drogba.

Many of these leagues do compete against each other, especially in Europe where the UEFA Champions League is also known as the European Cup. This tournament pits all of the top teams from every European league against each other. The most successful team has been Real Madrid with 13 titles but the current European Cup belongs to Bayern Munich out of Germany.

Pick the Sport you want to bet on, learn the dynamics of the games, and tap into the best betting strategies developed over the years. Can you build that elusive hot streak? There’s only one way to find out. Always remember, Bet Responsibly, Bet Greatly:

Wondering how the different U.S. States approach sports betting? the KGB team has provided in-depth guides on how various State or County laws stack up on sports betting. Check out the guides below, where we’ll investigate each state and help you in your quest to start Sports Betting: