Saudi Arabia pulls off shocking World Cup upset over Argentina
That’s why they play the games.
Saudi Arabia pulled off one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history on Tuesday, beating tournament favorite Argentina 2-1 in its opening Group C match. Saudi Arabia closed as high as 25-1 on the moneyline at some sportsbooks before the match began, and was 125-1 to win the match in the second half at PointsBet Sportsbook after falling behind 1-0.
Lionel Messi scored in the 10th minute on a penalty kick, and Argentina had several chances throughout the game to go up 2-0 that were disallowed by offside. Saudi Arabia scored two goals (48th minute, 53rd minute) in the second half and held on to pull off the stunning win.
It was a great result for sportsbooks. At DraftKings, 97% of the bets and 98% of the handle was on Argentina to simply win the match. In terms of the spread, 97% of the wagers and 97% of the money was on Argentina to win by two goals.
"It was certainly a good result in eliminating parlays," Thomas Gable, sportsbook director at The Borgata in New Jersey, told VSIN. "The time of the match was a little prohibitive to betting, though, with it being so early."