SportsInsights.com Article -- 2010 World Cup Update (June 24, 2010)

The U.S. has made the "knockout" portion of the 2010 World Cup Tournament with a dramatic 91st minute goal in their last game of the round-robin.  With the U.S.'s appearance in the elimination part of the tournament, interest in the World Cup will heat up.  Below are some statistics for the tournament games, to date.  SportsInsights.com is pleased to announce the availability of valuable betting information for this year's World Cup Tournament in South Africa.  Members should go into their Account Settings (Sports Tab) and add World Cup (under Soccer) to receive this information.  

2010 World Cup - Knockout Round

When the Knockout Round begins, there will no longer be ties.  Teams will be eliminated according to rules in the FIFA (French: Federation Internationale de Football Association) Rulebook: 

"If, after 90 minutes, a match ends in a draw, extra time of two periods of 15 minutes each will be played.  If the score is level after extra time, penalty kicks will be taken to determine the winner in accordance with the procedure described in the Laws of the Game."   

Note that the overtime periods are NOT sudden death. 

Recap about World Cup:  The World Cup is the most-watched sporting event in the world.  Depending on who makes the final, between 1 and 2 billion people will watch the World Cup Final.  Compare this to the 100-200 million that watch the Super Bowl!  Here are some facts about the format of the tournament:

• 32 teams qualified for the tournament.  The qualification process took almost three years and included more than 200 national teams. 
• The teams are organized into eight (8) groups of four (4) teams each.
• Each group plays a round-robin from June 11-June 25.  
• The top two teams of each group make it to the knockout portion of the tournament -- the Round of 16 (begins June 26).
• The Final will be played on July 11.  

Some Stats as of Games through 6/23/2010

There have been 40 games played since the World Cup started on June 11, 2010.  Soccer betting is new to many US based members, so SportsInsights.com's analysts took a quick look at the games to give our Members a better idea of what has happened.  The common bets are to pick the game to end in a draw, a team to win, or sometimes a small spread (such as Team A -0.5 goals).  Here are how the games have played out since the tournament started.   

World Cup sports bettors can also bet on the total of the game. (total number of goals scored by both teams)  Most totals are set at Over or Under 2.5 goals, with the odds being adjusted slightly depending on the teams.  Note that the lines/rules will change once the Knockout round begins (due to overtime and shootouts).  Below are the game totals results since the World Cup began.  SportsInsights.com has often stated that taking "Under" has value and the 2010 World Cup is proving this to be true so far.  

Disclaimer
We do not guarantee that the trends and biases we’ve found will continue to exist. It is impossible to predict the future. Any serious academic research in the field of “market efficiencies” recognizes that inefficiencies may disappear over time. Once inefficiencies are discovered, it is only a matter of time before the market corrects itself. We do not guarantee our data is error-free. However, we’ve tried our best to make sure every score and percentage is correct. The information on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Use of this information in violation of any federal, state, or local laws is prohibited.