Canada went crazy when Alphonso Davies scored just 67 seconds into Sunday’s World Cup match against Croatia. That was Canada’s first-ever World Cup goal in their second appearance — an appearance which spiked World Cup interest at Ontario sportsbooks.
Then Croatia took over, and took Canada apart piece by piece. Croatia won 4-1 in the Group F match. A porous midfield against Croatia’s world-class players was the main culprit, with captain Atiba Hutchinson, 39, too old to keep up with the pace. Not to isolate on Hutchinson. This was truly a team loss against a superior team.
That’s it for Canada in the World Cup. They’ll finish up against Morocco on Thursday, then it’s on to building for 2026, when Canada co-hosts the tournament along with Mexico and the United States.
Ontario Sports Betting World Cup Trends
On the betting end, according to FanDuel Sportsbook Ontario, bettors were heavily on Croatia with 63% of the stakes in the Win-Draw-Win market.
The lowest price on Canada to win In-Play was -160, just before Croatia tied it at 1-1, at the 36-minute mark.
Bettors correctly predicted first half fireworks as 74% of the stakes were on over 1.5 goals. The 2.5 match goals over/under was a good split with 54% on the over.
Though Croatia scored four, the top-staked player in the Anytime Goal Scorer Market, Luca Modric, did not score. Andrej Kramaric, who had two goals, was the fourth-most staked player, but the second, third, fifth and sixth were all Canadians — Jonathan David, Davies, Cyle Larin and Tajon Buchanan.
Futures Bets on Canada Popular But Fruitless
A week ago, Proline Sportsbook Ontario World Cup futures had 48% of customers betting Canada to win Group F. Going into Sunday, even after Canada’s opening loss to Belgium, 57% of Proline wagers were on Canada to win, while 55% of customers had the total over 2.5 goals. The two Canada games were, far and away, the most popular games of the tournament so far for Proline bettors, with the England vs. USA match as a distant third place.
Canada is an underdog once again Thursday against Morocco, but 58% so far predict Canada to win their final match. Just 7% of Proline customers had Morocco upsetting Belgium on Sunday — which the African team did, 2-0.
PointsBet Canada Sportsbook had the Bet Count outcomes going into the game at Canada 33.95%, Croatia at 48.74% (17.31% on a draw), while the handle bets broke down as follows: Canada 40.66%, Croatia 47.53% and a Draw at 11.81%.
Genius Sports Strikes NFL Content Partnerships
The competition is fierce among the 35 companies operating live Ontario betting apps in the newly regulated market, which makes Genius Sports’ announcement all the more significant.
Genius Sports and the NFL announced new licensing agreements with three licensed sportsbooks — Bet365, Bet99 and Rivalry — to distribute live video streams of NFL games to their Canadian customers.
“We are delighted that the NFL has broadened its partnership with Genius Sports to become the exclusive provider of official data and live streaming content for sportsbooks across Canada,” said Mark Locke, CEO of Genius Sports. “We connect the global sports ecosystem through cutting-edge data technology, and our official solutions will help Bet365, Bet99 and Rivalry to thrive in the newly legalized Canadian market.”
The NFL remains the most popular sport among Canadian bettors. Sports betting, as well as the best Ontario casino apps, launched in April.
The three sportsbooks can now offer heightened NFL content through Genius Sports’ fully Watch & Bet solution. Watch & Bet combines data and analysis with live streams of games. Bettors can watch and track their bets while getting data, stats, updated odds, and other information, all in the name of making more informed wagers.
Genius has partnerships with 400 sports organizations, including the NFL, FIBA, NCAA, NASCAR and EPL. Genius has been with the NFL as the distributor of data analysis and play-by-play stats since 2021.
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