Caption: A bettor has lost an AU$181,000 bet after Costa Rica shocked Japan in their group game on Sunday. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Upsetting the odds
The FIFA World Cup always gets a lot of attention from bettors. The action comes thick and fast, providing plenty of opportunities to place wagers. One bettor was not so lucky when they placed an AU$181,482 (US$121,376) wager on Japan to beat Costa Rica in their group stage game on Sunday.
Costa Rica made the most of their underdog tag
The Japanese looked like a sure thing considering they defeated Germany in their opening game of the tournament and Costa Rica lost 7-0 to Spain. Shocks are a core part of any World Cup and Costa Rica made the most of their underdog tag, defeating Japan 1-0.
A tough loss to take
The bet had been placed at odds of 1.50 for Japan to come out on top. It would have yielded a total return of AU$272,223 (US$182,064), for a profit of about AU$90,741 (US$60,688). Once Keysher Fuller put Costa Rica ahead 1-0 in the 81St minute, it looked like the end of the road for the wager. The bettor had placed the wager through the popular Australia-based sportsbook TAB, which tweeted about it in advance of the match:
Replies to the tweet show people questioning the logic behind placing the bet in the first place. One of the replies was from a person who said that they had backed Costa Rica to win the fixture at odds of 7.50, which would have been a nice result.
Plenty of excitement
Betting on the World Cup so far has proven to be a mixed bag for many people. In addition to Japan defeating Germany, there have been a number of other upsets. Saudi Arabia shocked Argentina in the opening round of group games, defeating the South American giants 2-1, and Morocco defeated Belgium 2-0 on Sunday.
likely that further shocks will be waiting down the line
With plenty of action remaining in the World Cup in Qatar, it is likely that further shocks will be waiting down the line for bettors. While this can be a concern for people who are backing strong favorites, it also potentially presents some nice opportunities for bettors going with the underdogs.
