The betting industry knows its football according to gaming technology firm GR8_TECH

The Cyprus company has released the data from its Team of Champions activation, an industry-focused initiative which invited industry figures to bet on the tournament.

Out of the 48 answers, the four most-backed picks were Argentina, England, France and Spain, though the professionals didn’t get everything right – Spain were the least backed at the start of the tournament.

The now two-time world champions entered the semifinals as the last-backed of the four teams with just 11.61% of semifinal betting volume, behind England at 17.24%, Argentina at 33.79% and France at 37.36%.

Once Spain v Argentina were confirmed for the final on 18 July, however, predictions quickly turned to the eventual champion, though they definitely stood out against the crowd according to GR8_TECH.

“Betting volume told us Spain were the outsiders even in the final four,” said Sergey Ghazaryan, Chief Revenue Officer at GR8_TECH.

“The professionals who voted in TEAM OF CHAMPIONS had picked them out of 48.

“That distance between crowd sentiment and informed judgment is what a trading desk navigates every single day—and what a great sportsbook platform has to help operators see in real time.”

Argentina were definitely the general punters choice ahead of the final, according to data from B2C bookmakers. 

Data from Betano, for example, showed a huge majority of punters expected Argentina to lift the World Cup for the second time – with Lionel Messi being the main source of inspiration.

A grand total of 82% of the Kaizen Gaming-owned sportsbook’s customers expected Messi’s side to win the World Cup, but after a grueling game which went into the extra 30 minutes Spain were able to secure a 1-0 win.

As with all B2B and B2C gaming firms, GR8_TECH took pre-World Cup preparations very seriously. The company initiated a revamp of its sportsbook in April, followed quickly by upgrades to its customer acquisition and retention toolkit.

The tournament also coincided with a rebrand for the company, which moved on from its old branding of GR8 Tech to the current branding of GR8_TECH.