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2026 World Cup Odds: Books In 'Strong Position' Following USA Elimination
Unless the USMNT made an improbable run to the title, the public betting masses were bound to get beat by the bookmakers at some point. That point was Monday night in Seattle. The USA tumbled to Belgium 4-1, bowing out in the Round of 16 and falling off the World Cup oddsboard. "It was a bad result for the U.S. but a good result for the book, which was always to be expected when/if they lost. It was one of the biggest wins we’ve had for a soccer game in company history," BetMGM trading manager Adair Horne said. Oddsmakers help recap the USA-Belgium match and the Americans’ World Cup run over the past month. This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports. Public Flogging Throughout the tournament’s group and knockout stages, betting support on the USA flooded in, setting soccer records at Caesars Sports with each subsequent match. Prior to Monday night — except for the Türkiye match — bettors were rewarded, as bookmakers took a bath. For USA-Belgium, Caesars reported a record number of unique customers wagering. So a Stars & Stripes victory would’ve been a banner night for the betting masses once again. Instead, Caesars — and sportsbooks across the nation, for that matter — clawed back a big chunk of change. "It was a better night for the book," Caesars Sports head of soccer trading Mark Bickerdike said. "Our customers were keen to see the USA progress to the quarterfinals, with 81% of money backing them in the To Qualify market and 78% of handle on the Match Betting market." A couple of hours before kickoff, a high-roller dropped into Circa Las Vegas on downtown Fremont Street, ready to put full faith and credit in the Red, White & Blue. The bettor wagered a massive $750,000 on USA -130 to advance. That ticket and countless others went into Circa Sports’ coffers. USA supporters were all over player prop bets, as well, particularly on goal-scoring star Folarin Balogun, in the wake of his red-card suspension being lifted. Alas, Balogun got only one good scoring opportunity and failed to find the net. "Given the attention surrounding Balogun, he was an extremely popular selection in both straight wagers and same-game parlays," Bickerdike said, before pointing to one market where the masses succeeded. "There were still some happy customers, as 97.6% of our Both Teams To Score handle was on Yes, which landed after just 31 minutes." Indeed, after Belgium’s Charles De Ketelaere opened the scoring in the ninth minute, Malik Tillman drilled in a free kick in the 31st minute to tie it at 1. But that success was short-lived, as less than two minutes later, De Ketelaere’s header put Belgium up for good. Futures Fallout Along with betting on the Americans at historic rates in each match, the public betting masses fired away on a U.S. championship in World Cup futures odds. So Monday night’s setback provided a second boon for sportsbooks, as all those futures tickets went begging. In fact, Caesars Sports couldn’t have asked for a better Monday, with the U.S. dropping out right after Portugal did in a 1-0 loss to Spain. "Our Tournament Winner book is in a strong position," Bickerdike said. "The USA was by far our biggest outright liability, while Portugal ranked second. So seeing both eliminated on the same day was significant. "France has been a popular selection in recent weeks, following a series of impressive performances, and now represents our biggest remaining concern in the outright market." What’s Next Now, though, the question is whether bettors’ interest substantially wanes, since the USA was a huge driver of wagering activity. "Overall, it was an exciting run for the USA, with unprecedented interest from bettors not only in USMNT games but in the entire World Cup itself," BetMGM’s Horne said. "Even though the USA is eliminated, we hope that the interest will continue for the rest of the World Cup." Bickerdike is optimistic, with huge quarterfinal matchups looming: Spain vs. Belgium, England vs. Norway and France vs. Morocco. "With many more elite matchups still to come, we wouldn't be surprised to see more soccer wagering records challenged at Caesars," Bickerdike said.
The Athletic takes a close look at the events that led to Terrion Arnold's arrest
As cornerback Terrion Arnold waits for a new team to sign him — and for a judge to decide whether he'll be required to wear a GPS monitor while on house arrest pending trial — it's worth taking a look at how he landed in his current legal predicament.
Predicament is, of course, an understatement. Arnold faces eight felony charges. Three for armed robbery, one for conspiracy to commit armed robbery, three for kidnapping, and one for conspiracy to commit kidnapping. cricket-ipl.co.za
The crimes carry a possible sentence of life in prison.
The Athletic recently posted a detailed article regarding the events that led to the alleged effort to recover property that had been stolen from a house Arnold had rented in Florida earlier this year.
And it's indisputable that Arnold was the primary victim of the initial theft. Per the report, Arnold told police that the perpetrators had absconded with an $80,000 diamond chain, expensive designer bags, four pairs of designer shoes, two Rolex watches, a cellphone, a Bible, and $100,000 in cash.
When police suggested that Arnold must have been planning to go to the nearby Hard Rock casino, Arnold was candid.
“Oh my God, you know I was,” Arnold said, based on a recording of the call The Athletic obtained from the Largo Police Department. “It’s the offseason, man. . . . Blackjack and roulette.”
The initial robbery, which Arnold told police was an "inside job" (per the report), happened at an Airbnb rented by Arnold. Per the report, a man in the neighborhood guessed that 20 people were coming and going from the home Arnold had rented. The neighbor said he smelled a "constant cloud" of marijuana coming from the rented house.
The Athletic also reports that neighbors saw a stripper standing on a counter that was visible through the kitchen window. The host of the Airbnb estimated that it took three hours and 20 trash bags to clean the house after Arnold left.
“What a weekend,” the president of the community’s homeowners association told police, based on bodycam footage. “We’re changing the rules because of that.”
On Sunday, February 1, Arnold and others noticed items missing from the house. Arnold reportedly visited a neighbor across the street and asked to review security footage.
“He was respectful, he was kind,” the neighbor told police, per The Athletic. “But his group that he was with were just loud and obnoxious. . . They definitely came across lower-rent than him. He seemed somewhat professional. I wanted to run into him to just say, ‘This is your image, this is your brand. You got to lose these clowns.'"
Some of those clowns later behaved less like Bozo and more like Pennywise.
The story from The Athletic details the ensuing effort to recover the property from the suspected thieves. We'll defer to the story, which is worth a full read.
The armed robbery and kidnapping are brought to life via text messages sent among others who were implicated in the crime. The effort ultimately failed to recover the stolen property. Arnold later told police that he no longer wished to press charges, expressing hope that the property would be returned and, if not, he would "pursue civil recourse."
Arnold has insisted that he had nothing to do with the armed robbery and kidnapping. His lawyer, Harvey Steinberg, contends that Arnold was "the trophy in this case," and that police had targeted him from the beginning of the investigation.
That part, frankly, seemed obvious from the outset. When the first article regarding a hearing involving two of the defendants emerged in the middle of February, a detective linked the accused to Arnold. (The angry responses to the tweet of our initial article regarding the possible ties to Arnold have a much different feel now.)
Arnold rented the house. Arnold's property was stolen. Arnold reported the property as stolen. Either the others acted on their own to get it back and kept Arnold completely out of the loop, or Arnold put the effort to recover the property in motion and tried to insulate himself from later scrutiny.
It will all continue to play out in court. As one officer reportedly said to a colleague shortly after the initial theft was reported, “Jesus Christ, this is a clusterfuck, isn’t it?”
How Arjun Nimmala has transformed from last year to this year