Saudi Arabia has starred in the first big surprise of the World Cup in Qatar. The team led by the French Hervé Renard has prevailed over one of the favourites, Leo Messi's Argentina (1-2), and has stunned the thousands of Argentine fans who have gathered at the Lusail Stadium, and the millions of albiceleste followers from around the world.
With this defeat in their debut, the Argentine team has no margin for error and is obliged to win their next two games -against Mexico and Poland, two rivals, a priori, more complicated than the Arab team- if they do not want to go home to the first change Something that very few had, as has been observed in the betting houses.
That the soccer world cups move a lot of money is no secret. But what is clear is that those who had bet on a victory for Saudi Arabia before the start of the game and, above all, after Argentina's initial 1-0 draw, have felt less bad or have even been happy about the defeat. of those of Scaloni.
According to Clarín, one of the most famous newspapers in Argentina, since in the previous one it was considered heroic to predict a defeat for the albiceleste, the main betting houses offered more than 20 times what was bet in favor of the Arabs. "It was not a business to do it for Argentina: it paid less than 20 cents for each peso played," said newspaper explains.
In fact, according to the aforementioned betting houses, the probability of an Argentine victory was 82%, the draw was 13% and the defeat was only 5%. Scaloni's men had gone 36 games in a row without knowing defeat and Argentina had never lost against Saudi Arabia. But today fortune has wanted to change, literally.
If those who had bet on a victory for the Arab team before the game have won 20 times what they paid, those who have opted for an away victory after Messi's 1-0 win have turned out better: they came to pay 31 times the bet, also according to Clarín.
If it goes further, the bookmakers are already contemplating a possible elimination of Argentina in the group stage. Before it was something that could seem unpredictable, but now those who bet that the team led by Leo Messi does not reach the round of 16 in Qatar would win 10 times more than what they bet.
However, despite this unexpected defeat at the Lusail Stadium, the bookmakers continue to consider Argentina one of the favorites and opt for an Albiceleste victory against Mexico and Poland, but with much more committed odds.
The other side of the coin has been experienced in Saudi Arabia. After a historic victory, euphoria prevails in the country ruled by Salmán bin Abdulaziz. So much so that the Saudi monarch has made an official announcement that can be considered unusual, in the case of a football match.
The King of Saudi Arabia has decreed that this Wednesday will be a holiday throughout the country on the occasion of "the victory of the Saudi team against the Argentine team in the World Cup." This has been announced by the official news agency, SPA.
The king "decreed that tomorrow, Wednesday, will be a holiday for all public and private sectors in the country, as well as for all students," according to a court statement reproduced by SPA.
He also added that the decision was made after the monarch accepted the suggestion of his son, the crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohamed bin Salmán.
