France is World Cup favorite
Kylian Mbappe works out at the gym at Ciudad Real Madrid on May 06, 2026 in Madrid, Spain.
Antonio Villalba | Real Madrid | Getty Images
According to Bank of America research, France has emerged as the clear favorite among fans at this year’s FIFA World Cup in North America; but Microsoft’s Copilot AI tool supports another champion.
Nearly 40% of fans surveyed by BofA are betting on Les Bleus to win another World Cup this summer; France and Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé is expected to be the “golden boot” winner as the tournament’s top scorer.
However, AI says that Spanish La Roja are equally likely to lift the trophy.
This year’s World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, is expected to be the largest ever, with an estimated 6.5 million fans attending 104 matches in 16 host cities.
According to FIFA-WTO research, the global sporting event is estimated to generate over $80 billion in global output, add approximately $41 billion to global GDP and support more than 800,000 jobs.
The tournament will start on June 11 and will feature 48 teams, including first-time participants Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan.
FIFA announced last week that the competing teams will share prize money totaling $871 million, or at least $12.5 million each. The higher payout includes increased preparation and qualification fees to help cover costs such as travel and training, particularly benefiting smaller teams.
Preparation payments will increase from $1.5 million to $2.5 million in the 2022 World Cup, and qualifying payments will increase from $9 million to $10 million.
This comes as controversy emerges over FIFA’s new “dynamic” ticket pricing system.
CNBC previously reported that ticket prices ranged from $380 for a Category 2 group stage game between Curaçao and Ivory Coast in Philadelphia to $4,105 for a Category 1 seat at the USA-Paraguay game in Los Angeles. In fact, the price of a ticket on FIFA’s official ticket sales platform was $11.5 million.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino previously told CNBC that the tournament attracted around 508 million requests for just seven million tickets offered for matches.
“Ticket pricing is always a sensitive issue for mega-events of this scale,” Ricardo Fort, founder of sports consultancy Fort Consulting, said at the time. “There will always be segments of fans who feel they are being priced out, especially for premium matches.”
