5 New Irish Betting Sites for the 2026 World Cup

1. Fitzbet -  New since Feb 2026
2. DragonBet - New since Jan 2026
3. Bar 1 Betting -  New since Nov 2025
4. Swifty Sports - New since Nov 2024 
5. Midnite - New since Nov 2024 

Betting sites in Ireland don’t come any newer than FitzBet, which officially launched in the UK & Ireland in February 2026. The brand new platform is an online extension of Fitzwilliam Sports.

Based in the heart of Dublin, Fitzwilliam Sports is a high-end independent bookmaker that specialises in a premium betting experience and provides high-quality service to high-stakes clients.

FitzBet will uphold the same high standards and service as the main brand, providing a comprehensive sportsbook that covers all the popular UK & Irish sports, with a strong focus on horse racing and, of course, football.

As one of Ireland’s newest bookmakers, Fitzbet, is already seeing a surge in new customers opening accounts, a trend only set to continue as we get closer to the start of the World Cup. 

Those joining or discovering Fitzbet.com for the first time can’t help but be impressed by the site's sophisticated look and simple layout. First impressions are everything, and Fitzbet certainly succeeds here.

Those impressions continue the deeper you dive into the site, too. There's a raft of football promotions - 2 Up, Superb Sub, Acca Boost, Red Delight - an easy-to-use bet builder and a generous refer a friend program for members to benefit from. And given what we know about the brand so far, we expect more offers, specifically for the World Cup, to come as we edge closer to the big kick-off on June 11.

With over 60 betting shops across the Republic of Ireland (and Northern Ireland), Bar One Racing has a huge presence across the Irish region. The Dundalk-based company has recently taken on a new look, rebranding in late 2025 to Bar 1 Betting, marking a new chapter in the bookmaker’s history.

The change has brought a new website and mobile app, launched to deliver customers a much faster and smoother betting experience. But how does the new sportsbook, and its football offering, in particular, stack up?

Well, considering that Bar One Racing is known prominently as a racing bookie, they have an excellent offering for football. Members can pick up weekly free bets and rewards, receive odds boosts for accas, and get paid out early if the team they backed pre-match goes 2 goals up. 

There are also great value odds boosts for the day’s biggest games, while pre-built bet builders make life a bit easier for the ones that can’t make up their mind (like me)!

Bar 1 Betting may not come with the bells and whistles of the very best football betting sites, but adding it to your list of betting accounts for the World Cup is a no-brainer.

Just like the Republic and Northern Ireland, Wales will watch the 2026 World Cup from afar, thinking about what might have been… Still, even so, DragonBet, one of a handful of newly launched betting sites in Ireland for 2026, is a great choice for betting on the World Cup.

“The Bookmaker of Wales”, as it’s known, has caught the attention of many Irish punters in a short space of time. 

Users can take advantage of the many value football odds boosts (aka DragonBoosts) on offer, and many report a positive customer service experience - two benefits you can almost guarantee from an independent betting site, such as DragonBet.

Besides live streaming (which doesn’t matter with the World Cup since bookmakers don’t have the rights anyway), Dragonbet has many attributes of a top football bookmaker, including market depth, a smooth bet builder and competitive pricing.

For balance, there aren’t many (if any) promotions to speak about, and payments are extremely limited, but we believe these areas will improve as the brand becomes more established.

Swifty Sports is unlike the three bookies already mentioned in that they’ve been around for a couple of years. The Dublin-based sports betting brand launched operations in Ireland in late 2024, but a lack of brand familiarity means it’s not as well-known as other online sportsbooks in Ireland currently.

However, Swifty Sports has a solid footing to potentially challenge many of Ireland’s biggest online bookmakers, given time.

Current members have an endless list of football markets to choose from and a constant supply of boosted odds to snap up on a well-designed, easy-to-use site. The bet builder function is also straightforward, with ample markets in which to build a bet.

Swifty Sports requires a few tweaks and additions to make it a more complete product. Popular football promotions like Early Payout, Acca Insurance and Sub Guarantee are absent, for example, while there’s a sheer lack of bonuses and offers in general. The range of payment methods (only debit card & bank transfer are accepted) could be improved, too.

But if you’re seeking a no-frills website to place a few World Cup bets, Swifty Sports are certainly worth having an account with.

A bit like Swifty Sports, Midnite isn’t new in the newly licensed sense; the London-based company has been active in Ireland for at least a couple of years (though there are a few discrepancies about when the brand actually launched in the Republic). But its inclusion on our list feels justified given that Midnite is still a fairly new name for punters in Ireland.

Having said this, the London-based bookmaker has quickly carved out a niche for itself with its fun, modern sportsbook, which continues to grow in popularity, particularly among younger bettors. 

Its appeal doesn't just stem from the vibrant style and feel of the website, but also from how well the sportsbook is put together. From navigation and layout to market coverage and promotions, the offering is everything you’d expect from a top bookmaker in 2026.

Nowhere is that clearer than in the football section. There’s a huge selection of markets for individual matches within a variety of leagues and competitions, and a straightforward bet builder to create same-game multis.

You will find a lot of football markets have odds boosts to take advantage of - something we expect to see a lot of during the World Cup - and an acca rewards promotion based on your betting activity.

Midnite has also bolstered its profile within football over the past year via numerous sponsorship agreements. This includes becoming the front-of-shirt sponsor of EFL Championship side, Sheffield United, a multi-year partnership with Southampton, also of the Championship and backing Channel 5’s coverage of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the UK.