Every nation has taken to the pitch at the World Cup. More than a few pundits questioned how competitive the tournament would be with the expanded field. They are silent now following strong performances from Jamaica against France, Haiti in their match against England, and even Vietnam to a lesser degree against the United States.
Are there additional lessons to be learned before heading back to the window ahead of the second round of games in the Group Stage? Jay Croucher (@croucherJD) and Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper) shared a few nuggets on a recent edition of Bet the EDGE.
Dinsick noted the UNDER has been the play Down Under.
“The major betting news around the Women’s World Cup is that UNDERS are crushing. I think if you were blind backing the UNDER to this point in the tournament, you are probably ahead 10 units, which is crazy.”
Croucher, a native of Australia, was not as surprised by the low scores.
“As someone who has done the 24-hour across the world flight to Australia, coming off that flight I didn’t really feel ready to put six goals past the Vietnamese either, but they (Team USA) are acclimated and maybe they will grow more into the tournament as it progresses.”
The market has adjusted to the low-scoring start to this tournament. However, should the low totals continue in Round 2 of the Group Stage, Dinsick believes there will be a play prior to the Third Round of games.
“If the Second Leg of the Round Robin Stage is more UNDERS, my gut says you could probably blind bet the OVERS in the Third Round Robins and probably have a decent angle as the market is overcorrecting for this…in the case that there is still a little bit of a lack of chemistry and goalscoring (in Round 2 of Group Play), and UNDERS continue to come in, I’m going to be ready to try to capture the other direction of this.”
As far as Team USA’s second game of the tournament against the Netherlands Wednesday at 9P ET, the fellas from Bet the EDGE like the Red, White, & Blue.
“I don’t think the Netherlands are the same team that made it to the World Cup Final in 2019 or really even close,” said Dinsick. “They have decent defense and decent goaltending. But they’re definitely going to be vulnerable to the counterattack to USA’s midfield… I have USA coming through here to zero. I don’t mind laying 1½ goals for the current price. I don’t mind laying -140 for them on the three-way.”
Here are the updated odds for a handful of the favorites to win the tournament:
USA +240
Spain +320
England +600
Germany +700
Australia +1100
France +1400
Brazil +1800
The biggest movers in the market have been Australia (opened at 15/1), Spain (opened at 5/1), and Brazil (opened at 25/1).
Enjoy the games and enjoy the sweat.
