Bookies 'confused', players start to turn to Brazilian teams

Brazilian representatives are creating a fever at the FIFA Club World Cup by continuously defeating powerful clubs from Europe.

Flamengo players celebrate victory over Chelsea - Photo: REUTERS

Just one day after Botafogo's shocking 1-0 win over PSG, it was another Brazilian representative, Flamengo, who created a second shock in the US by defeating Chelsea 3-1.

Brazilian teams promoted on the odds table

Both powerful representatives of Brazilian football have won all 6 points after the first 2 matches. Before that, Palmeiras also had 4 points in Group A. Meanwhile, Fluminense successfully held Dortmund to a draw in Group F.

So far, the four Brazilian teams have played seven matches in the FIFA Club World Cup and are completely unbeaten. Most notably, they have faced European representatives. Palmeiras drew with Porto, Fluminense drew with Dortmund. Botafogo and Flamengo have even defeated the giants.

These impressive results have significantly changed the balance of the FIFA Club World Cup title race.

Before the opening day of the tournament, the championship odds from leading European bookmakers focused on the group of 4 strongest teams including PSG (3/1 - bet 1 win 3), Manchester City (9/2), Bayern Munich (11/2) and Real Madrid (11/2).

Meanwhile, South American teams such as Palmeiras, Botafogo or Flamengo are all deep in the middle of the betting rankings with odds ranging from 20/1 to 33/1, with some places even recording 50/1 for Botafogo.

But on the morning of June 21, many bookmakers began offering new odds for the Brazilian representatives. They even placed them in the top of the championship candidates.

Some bookmakers such as William Hill and BetMGM quickly adjusted the odds for Brazilian teams, Botafogo from 50/1 to 25/1, Flamengo from 33/1 to 20/1.

Bookmaker chaos

However, the adjustment is not uniform. Betfair still has Botafogo at 33/1. Meanwhile, FanDuel has them down to 22/1. Quickbet has even cut Flamengo's odds to 16/1.

Even bookmakers are "confused" about whether to rate Brazilian clubs as real championship candidates or not.

Botafogo (left) rose to the championship candidate group after winning against PSG - Photo: REUTERS

According to Quickbet, Flamengo is currently the 5th candidate in the tournament. They have surpassed a series of European giants such as Inter Milan, Chelsea, Juventus... and are only behind 4 giants PSG, Man City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

Similarly, Botafogo would be 6th favourites according to FanDuel odds, but according to Betfair, they are below Chelsea and Inter Milan.

“The Brazilians beating two title contenders was not only a shock to the experts, but also created a chain reaction in betting psychology,” said OddsChecker betting expert James Thompson.

Players have started to put money into Flamengo and Botafogo, forcing bookmakers to adjust to reduce risks, even though they don't really believe these teams can win the championship. There will be a big shake-up and a big difference between bookmakers in the next few days."

Before the tournament, many prediction models believed that the champion team would definitely come from Europe, with a probability of over 85%. However, recent slip-ups are shaking this belief.

Meanwhile, the South American representatives regained their position for the first time in many years. Don't forget that the FIFA Club World Cup is held in the United States, which has a similar time zone, as well as relatively familiar climatic conditions to Brazil and Argentina.

Back to topic

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nha-cai-hoang-mang-nguoi-choi-bat-dau-huong-ve-cac-doi-bong-brazil-20250621085646378.htm