Perhaps the biggest upset in World Cup history took place as most were asleep on Tuesday morning. Coming in as a +2500 underdog, Saudi Arabia stunned Argentina with two second half goals to win 2-1.
Argentina came in as one of the few favorites to win the World Cup and was a popular pick in the sports betting community. After the letdown, its odds took a dip (from +500 to +800), but there’s still a path to get back on track in Group C.
Check out the full updated odds below, via DraftKings:
Argentina’s World Cup Betting Odds Take a Hit
Argentina entered the tournament as the No. 2 favorite behind Brazil. They had not lost an international match since 2019, which included a championship win in the 2021 Copa America tournament over Brazil to give Lionel Messi his first major international trophy.
Saudi Arabia was able to frustrate Argentina with a defensive strategy centered around trying to get the Argentines offsides. This resulted in three disallowed goals and seven offsides calls. Despite Argentina holding possession over 70% of the time, the opportunistic offense of Saudi Arabia was the difference in the second half.
All is not lost for Argentina, though. To get past Group C comfortably, they'll need to beat Mexico and Poland, and they're currently favorites to win both matches. If they get one win and one draw, then they might be left hoping for a certain outcome when Mexico faces Poland next week.
Regardless, there's certainly more optimism for teams such as Brazil, England and France. England came into the World Cup with come injury and depth concerns but put those to bed (for now) with a convincing 6-2 win over Iran on Monday.
Brazil and France have yet to play a match but are both heavy favorites to win and ultimately advance past the Group Stage. France is -330 against Australia on Monday afternoon, and Brazil is -200 against Serbia on Thursday.
Argentina is currently -190 to win its next match against Mexico on Saturday and will have to wait until then to get the bad taste out of its mouth from Tuesday's shocker.
