Caption: A bettor lost A$181,000 after Costa Rica shocked Japan in their group match on Sunday. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
overturn the odds
The FIFA World Cup always gets a lot of interest from bettors. The action comes thick and fast, providing plenty of opportunities to place bets. One bettor was out of luck when they placed a A$181,482 ($121,376 USD) bet on Japan to beat Costa Rica in Sunday’s group stage match.
Costa Rica made the most of the underdog tag
The Japanese looked like a sure thing considering they had beaten Germany in their opening match of the tournament and Costa Rica lost 7-0 to Spain. Bumps are an essential part of any World Cup, and Costa Rica made the most of their weak side, beating Japan 1-0.
Tough loss
The bet is placed at 1.50 for Japan to top the list. It would have generated a total revenue of A$272,223 ($182,064 USD), for a profit of approximately A$90,741 ($60,688 USD). Once Keysher Fuller put Costa Rica ahead 1-0 on his 81stStreet Minute, it seemed like the end of the road for the bet. The bettor had placed the bet through popular Australian-based sportsbook TAB, which he tweeted about before the match:
The responses to the tweet show that people are questioning the rationale behind placing the bet in the first place. One of the responses was from someone who said he backed Costa Rica to win the match with an odds of 7.50, which would have been a good result.
Lots of excitement
World Cup betting has so far proven to be a mixed bag for many people. In addition to Japan’s defeat of Germany, there were a number of other upsets. Saudi Arabia shocked Argentina in the first round of the group matches, defeating the South American giants 2-1, and Morocco beat Belgium 2-0 on Sunday.
It is likely that more shocks will await the line
With so much excitement left at the Qatar World Cup, it is likely that more shocks will be in store for bettors. While this may be a concern for people who support strong favourites, it also has the potential to present some great opportunities for bettors who go with the underdogs.
