The Best Soccer Betting Sites in Canada for 2023

What to Look for in a Soccer Betting Site

To help you choose the right online betting site for your soccer bets, we paid attention to these few things (so you don’t have to).

• Leagues/Tournaments Offered

Finding a sportsbook that covers popular leagues like the Canadian Premier League, English Premier League, or the Spanish La Liga is fairly easy.

But if you’re after smaller leagues, like say, the Myanmar women’s league, you may end up having a hard time finding a betting site that covers it.

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Sports Interaction covers a wide variety of soccer leagues!

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• Odds

Among the most important things to check before placing your first soccer bet is which website offers the highest odds.

And while we will explain the meaning of odds, how to read them, and how to pick a sportsbook that offers the best ones, we also did this portion of the work so you don’t have to.

All of the sportsbooks we recommend have competitive odds. However, they do differ across leagues, and even based on whether you’re betting on the favourite or the underdog.

• Security

All online sportsbooks legal in Canada need to adhere to certain rules in order to be deemed safe and secure.

With that being said, our recommended operators go a step further to protect your account, and offer extensive resources pertaining to responsible gambling.

• Easy Navigation

Finally, you want your betting experience to be smooth, and not a pain in the neck. Website navigation plays a huge role in that.

For example, Bet99’s navigation makes it easy to see which leagues you can bet on live at the moment, among other, more general user friendly options.

Our recommended sportsbooks allow you to easily find the league, match, and type of bet you’re after. It’s a huge timesaver, and you’ll avoid unnecessary stress!

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How to Start Betting on Soccer

Anyone can bet on soccer. You visit an online betting site, you place your bet, and you wait. But to bet smart, you need to master a couple of things first.

Learn What Influences the Result of a Soccer Match

First, you need to know a bit (or, ideally, a lot!) about soccer. Understanding not only the rules of the game but what influences outcomes as well is a must.

For one, if you’re an avid soccer fan, you’ll know that the players’ form and injuries can easily decide the game.

To understand the form of each player, you’ll need to look back at their recent results, such as number of goals and assists.

Whether they play at home or away can influence some teams as well, especially if a dedicated fanbase is something they’re known for.

Next, you’ll want to stay in the know about the players coming to and leaving a team. If the team’s top scorer leaves mid-season, the fact that the team won The Double last year fades in comparison.

Same thing applies to changing a coach.

Master Probability, Odds, and Value

Once you’ve mastered how soccer games and outcomes work and what they depend on, it’s time to learn all about odds, probability, and value. After all, those are the terms that will determine how much money you stand to win.

Probability

Probability lets you know how likely an outcome is to pass.

For example, if you’re flipping a coin, there’s a 50% probability it will land on either side. Now, tossing a coin is easier than figuring out the probability of a team winning a game. However, there is some data on it.

For example, if a team has a 1-goal lead, they’re 74% likely to win a game. On the other hand, a 2-goal lead boosts their chances to 94%! This is great to know if you like betting live.

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Luckily, you don’t need to be a math whizz in order to start betting on soccer. The probability of the team winning a game, scoring a number of goals, or winning a championship is already factored into your main area of interest: odds.

Odds

The odds on a soccer game tell you two things:

• How likely an outcome is, and
• How much money you stand to win by guessing it correctly.

When you’re betting on soccer (or any other sport for that matter) just keep in mind that linemakers always factor vigorish into odds. A portion of each wager is going to them — that’s how they make their profit.

That is one of the reasons you’ll find different odds across different online betting websites, as some bookmakers take a higher “cut” than others. In that case, the odds offered will be lower, and so will be your potential payout.

There are several ways of writing odds. However, decimal odds make it easy to calculate payouts, so we’ll work with those.

Simply take the odds and multiply them by the amount you wagered. Let’s look at an example:

When it comes to the away team and the draw option, LeoVegas has very competitive odds. Meanwhile, the odds for the favourite differ a bit more between the three sportsbooks.

If you bet $100 on the favourite at all four sportsbooks, here’s how much you’ll be getting:

• LeoVegas – 2.30x$100 = $230
• 888Sport – 2.45x$100 = $245
• bwin – 2.28x$100 = $228

When you subtract the original wager, your winnings are, respectively, $130, $145, and $128. Therefore, for the same match, you could get $17 more if you bet at 888Sport, than by betting at bwin.

P.S. You can read more about 888Sport in our dedicated review!

But it’s not all that straightforward. You’ll often see differing odds for different matches and competitions.

Now, part of the reason odds aren’t the same everywhere lies in the bookmakers’ understanding of all that goes into winning a soccer match. And that’s where value comes in.

Value

The value of a bet essentially means that you’re playing better odds than is realistic.

If you’re betting on MLS’ biggest rivalry match, Seattle Sounders vs Portland Timbers, dozens of soccer specialists and enthusiasts will be looking into their chances, carefully crafting the odds.

But if you opt for, say, the third Spanish league, not many will be looking into it with so much vigor.

With enough knowledge and dedication, you could spot an underdog who isn’t that much of an underdog, place a bet on high odds and win back some decent money.

Here’s an example from Japanese J3 league. At Betano, the odds for Sagamihara winning against Iwaki FC are 5.30.

For the same game and the same team, Bet99 has odds of 5.66! Even if you wager only $20 and the underdog pulls a surprise, you’d be winning $7.2 more.

Once you’re ready to place your first soccer bet, it’s time to decide what kind of bets interest you.

Popular Soccer Bet Types

In soccer, the most common type of bet is a moneyline bet. With a moneyline bet, you’re trying to determine the winner of the game. There are two kinds of bets you can choose from:

• Three-Way Moneyline Bet

This is the more common type of bet when it comes to soccer. The “three” in three-way means there are three likely outcomes: the home team wins, the away team wins, or it ends in a tie.

A tie happens quite often in soccer, which is the reason this bet type is common.

• Two-Way Moneyline Bet

Meanwhile, a two-way moneyline bet means you can only place a bet on one of the two teams winning. With the draw option removed, the odds are adjusted accordingly.

If you opt for a two-way moneyline bet, in the case of a draw, your original wager is returned to you.

• Spread (Goal Line)

With a goal line, you’re betting on whether the total amount of goals will cross a certain threshold.

Much like with baseball, since a soccer game doesn’t usually end with too many points, the goal line is commonly set to -1.5. The exceptions are games with obvious favourites, in which case the goal line is often pushed to -2.5.

After all, a result of 2-0 is far more expected if Forge FC is playing against Cavalry FC than if their opponents are FC Edmonton.

But how does it work exactly?

Imagine you’re betting on a spread of -1.5 on the favourite, and they win by 2 goals or more. In that case, you win the bet, because they won by more than 1.5 goals. If they win by less, draw, or lose, you lose.

Over/Under

Once more, due to the very low goal counts in soccer, this bet is slightly different than in other sports. Namely, it has to be played in multiples of .25 goals, rather than in whole scores. You’ll often see bookmakers setting a total of 2.25 or 2.5.

Here’s how it works:

Imagine you’re betting on over 2.25 goals. In that case, you’re technically placing two bets: one on over 2, and one on over 2.5. If the result is 2:0, it pushed and you’re refunded for the over 2 bet, but you lose the over 2.5 bet. You’d need a 3:0 or 2:1 in order to win both bets.

Here’s a quick overview if you bet on over 2.25:

Prop bets

Prop bets are among the seasoned bettors’ favourites in all sports. Basketball, golf, or soccer, it’s always fun to bet on virtually anything you can imagine.

In soccer, such bets include who scores first, in what minute, when the first yellow card will be issued, whether someone will win despite being a goal behind…

For example, you could have bet on tons of interesting stuff for Jurgen Klopp’s first game as Liverpool’s new coach: whether he gets sent to the stands, whether he’ll substitute a substitute, or use all three of his substitutes in the first half.

One of the best betting sites when it comes to prop bets in soccer is definitely Betano. You can read more about this brand in our dedicated Betano review.

LeoVegas is also famous for its varied proposition bets!

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Derivatives

Derivatives are somewhat similar to proposition bets, in that you’re just betting on one specific part of the game. You can choose to bet on the result in the first 10 minutes, last 5 minutes, the first or the second half…

Futures

Finally, there are the futures bets. The “future” here suggests you’re not betting on an immediate event.

Good examples include placing a wager on the top scorer of the Premier League or Bundesliga, or guessing the winner of the upcoming World Cup.

You can also bet on the top 2 teams, top 4, or the top London club in the Premier League, for example.

Most Popular Soccer Leagues and Tournaments to Bet On

While virtually every country in the world has its own national soccer league, some are more popular (and fun to watch) than others. Among the most popular leagues Canadians follow and bet on are:

• Canadian Premier League

Since its inception in 2019, the Canadian Premier League (CPL) has been at the top of the Canadian soccer league system. Currently, eight professional soccer teams compete in it.

The first two seasons were won by Forge FC. Runner-ups and Forge FC’s biggest opponents include Calvary FC and HFX Wanderers.

CPL runs from April to October.

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Find various CFL betting options at Bet365!

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• Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer (MLS) is currently the strongest soccer league featuring Canadian teams. Three of 28 teams come from Canada – Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and CF Montréal. The rest of the teams stem from the USA.

In 2023, MLS will run from February 25th to October 21st. Such timing often conflicts with big international competitions such as the World Cup (although it wasn’t the case in 2022).

The biggest favourites in 2023 include Nashville and LA Galaxy, but CF Montreal has decent chances as well! After all, the Canadian club did finish second last year.

• Premier League England

England’s Premier League is the world’s most-watched sports league. It’s being broadcast to over 200 territories and has an audience of more than 4 billion people.

20 clubs compete in the Premier League, with Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham being considered the strongest teams in recent years.

Premier League runs from August to May.

• Spanish La Liga

According to UEFA’s rankings, Spanish top soccer league – La Liga – has been the top league in Europe between 2013 and 2019. The strongest teams, Real Madrid and Barcelona, are among the main favorites of Europe’s biggest competitions, year after year.

La Liga runs between August and May.

• Bundesliga

The International Centre for Sports Studies analyzed dozens of European soccer teams a few years ago. Their conclusion was: Bundesliga has the biggest following and highest attendance. The strongest of its 18 teams are Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

Bundesliga runs from August to May.

It comprises Europe’s 32 top-division clubs, which progress from round robin group stage into double-legged knockoffs to decide the winner.

But once every 4 years, soccer enthusiasts get to follow, cheer, and bet on the European Championship, as well as the FIFA World Cup.

The European Championship has 24 European countries competing for the title. It’s held every four years in a different country.

The FIFA World Cup is the largest soccer competition in the world – and there’s one happening in 2022! Every four years (two years after the most recent European Championship) 32 countries compete for the title. Like with the European Championship, the country where the competition is being held switches every year.

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