Many Americans cheered on Team USA in their final group stage win over Iran in the 2022 World Cup. The team was heavily bet on across U.S. sportsbooks and one bettor hit a huge parlay. Here’s the bet.
What Happened: The U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Iran 1-0 in the group stage match of the 2022 World Cup. The match sends Team USA through to the round of 16 and marks a bold return for the team that missed out on qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
Christian Pulisic scored the lone goal of the match in the 38th minute to put Team USA ahead and ultimately win the game.
One bettor at FanDuel, a unit of Flutter Entertainment PDYPY, is likely smiling after the heroic performance from Pulisic, who is drawing comparisons to Captain America for leading the team and even sacrificing his body with an injury to get the goal.
A bettor at FanDuel hit an unlikely same-game parlay, which combines several outcomes from the same match and has to have all components, or legs, of the wager hit to be a winning bet.
The same game parlay was:
- Correct score USA 1, Iran 0
- USA -2 corner spread (2 or more corners than Iran)
- Half-Time Lead USA
- Christian Pulisic First Goalscorer
Pulisic scoring the goal in the 38th minute helped accomplish the last leg and also led to legs one and three being right. Team USA had five corner kicks compared to one for Iran, hitting all the legs when the final whistle blew.
The bettor put down $911.79 and walked away with $174,786 for the bet with odds of +19,069 to win at FanDuel.
Some have pointed out the potential parallels of the bet amount alluding to the involvement of Iran in the 9/11 attacks (which was found not to be the case by the 9/11 Commission) and the 79 referencing the Iran hostage crisis of 1979. Others suggested the user was just putting every penny left on the line.
Others have called out the bet being fake, given the unlikelihood of betting such a large wager amount on the exact outcome. FanDuel’s Twitter account shared the bet. Benzinga reached out to FanDuel on the legitimacy of the bet and did not hear back.
Related Link: Benzinga Employees Pick 2022 World Cup Winners, Favorite Teams And How Far Team USA Will Advance
What’s Next: The next game for Team USA is Sat. Dec. 3 at 10 a.m. ET, with the team taking on the Netherlands, the winner of Group A in the group stage. The game will be broadcast on Fox, a unit of Fox Corp FOX and streamed on Peacock, a unit of Comcast Corporation CMCSA.
Team USA enters the elimination game as an underdog. The early betting line for the USA vs. Netherlands at DraftKings Inc DKNG was Netherlands win at -115, USA win at +330, and a draw at +255. The game will not end in a tie, but the draw bet cashes out if the game goes to extra time to declare a winner.
The USA has odds of +9000 to win the 2022 World Cup at DraftKings, a feat the team can accomplish with four more wins.
Sportsbooks like FanDuel could be rooting for the Netherlands to win if a large number of bets come in on Team USA once again. The U.S. team had odds of -110 or -120 at most sportsbooks to beat Iran in the final group-stage game.
Caesars Entertainment CZR had 93% of the money bet on the match for Team USA to win.
BetMGM, a joint venture between MGM Resorts International MGM and Entain, had 90% of the money bet on the game on Team USA.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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