SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
bettingexpert, Europe’s biggest sports betting player portal has revealed that just 1 in 100 football fans had predicted Wales’ incredible Euro 2016 journey.
Analysing data from almost 30,000 football fans who entered its ‘bettingexpert Euro 2016 Predictor’ game ahead of the tournament start date (10 June), bettingexpert revealed that just 366 (1.32%) believed Wales could make it to the semi-final or further.
Of those who foresaw Wales’ incredible run, just 96 think the Dragons can go one step further and make the final, with just half of those (48) again thinking the unthinkable of Wales being crowned champions.
In stark contrast, almost 65% of Euro predictors expected flops England to reach the last four, and only 3.2% correctly predicted that the Three Lions would get knocked out at the last-16 stage.
Wales who had not played a major international football tournament since the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, enter tonight’s Euro 2016 semi-finals against Portugal as 3/1 underdogs. The team had started the tournament at 50/1 to make the Euro’s final.
On Monday bookmaker William Hill revealed that a Welsh semi-final victory over Portugal would see it pay out ‘seven figure’ cash out to its customers, as UK bookmakers prepare for the biggest game in Wales football history.
Henrik Lykkesteen, Chief Commercial Officer for Better Collective, operator of bettingexpert.com commented on the data:
“There have been plenty of upsets throughout the tournament, which will surely be making some punters incredibly pleased. With Wales up to 17/1 to be eliminated in the semi-finals before the tournament, it shows that there are potential big wins to be had but, as our bettingexpert.com predictions show, sometimes you have to show some unbelievable foresight to pick those bets out.”
