Iran World Cup Performance: Betting Review
Did Iran do well in the betting markets? Well, the short answer is yes. When they won against Wales, the 1×2 betting market had average odds of 3.87 for the Iranian victory.
Any team that provokes such a betting result in a World Cup is an overachiever.
The Iranians may have lost 6-2 against England and 1-0 against the USA, but they still paid big odds in the game against Wales.
Betting Summary: Iran at Group B
Truth be told, Iran overperformed in general. There are basically two facts that prove that. Essentially, they have beaten a European side in the World Cup, and even if Wales didn’t perform quite well in the World Cup, with the exception of some moments against The USA, the Asians have finished third in Group B.
The analysts were unanimous when previewing Group B: Iran was expected to finish fourth, at the bottom of the Group.
They ended up collecting 3 points and beating a European nation, Wales, in the Group.
That certainly shows some signs of development of The Beautiful Game in Iran.
Group Stage bets certainly had odds for Iran to finish 4th, meaning the fact that they managed not to be the worst team of the group could already have meant betting profits to some daring bettors out there.
The odds for Wales to beat Iran in the 1×2 market were 2.14 on average, and there was an even bigger handicap in the Asian markets available during some hours prior to the kick off.
Convergence Between Sport and the Markets: The Performance of Iran
Sometimes, match results and betting results converge. The odds paid for the only victory of Iran were big and that reflects the surprise of most analysts with their performance.
Perhaps in the eyes of most analysts, Wales was the biggest disappointment of Group B. Many fans of Gareth Bale wanted to see him wearing the colours of Wales in the World Cup, however, truth be told, the Welsh player is past his prime and that has been the situation for a while.
In spite of the evolution of the MLS in the last seasons, when a big name ends up there, unfortunately, that still is a red flag in terms of what to expect at International level.
We have some rare cases of players like Ibrahimovic that ‘visited’ America only to return to Milan as a protagonist eventually.
Speaking of league evolution, FIFA certainly was satisfied to see an Asian team doing that well in a game they were underdogs, although when it comes to Asian teams and surprises, Saudi Arabia surely is the big winner of this World Cup.
Time will tell when and if Iran will ever make it to the knockout stage of a World Cup, but as a final summary, Iran surely overperformed in Group B as they managed not to end at the bottom.
