USWNT's World Cup loss to Sweden was a massive win for sportsbooks

That sense of impending doom from near-group stage defeats in the World Cup finally proved true for the United States early Sunday morning, as the favorites entering the tournament were eliminated by Sweden in the Round of 16.

The U.S. entered the World Cup with tournament-best +240 odds to win it all — though those odds were down to +430 at FanDuel by the end of group play. And if the betting splits at BetMGM are any indication of the larger U.S. market, sportsbooks just scored a massive victory with the USWNT’s loss.

Less than two weeks ago, the U.S. was receiving more than 80 percent of the World Cup championship handle at BetMGM, accounting for more than half the tickets. And though that number was down to 67 percent by the time of their elimination, it still made the U.S. the sportsbook’s biggest liability to win the tournament, according to BetMGM’s John Ewing.

.@USWNT lost on penalties.

USA was the biggest liability to win the tournament at @BetMGM.

— John Ewing (@johnewing) August 6, 2023

67% of money was on @USWNT to win the World Cup.

USA ended the tournament on a 238-minute scoring drought. pic.twitter.com/h4pKJy64Os

— John Ewing (@johnewing) August 6, 2023

The USWNT loss was devastating for both the team and bettors, but it was a massive win for sportsbooks. At DraftKings, an incredible 94 percent of the handle and 83 percent of the tickets were on the U.S. at the start of the tournament. It was 80 percent at Westgate Las Vegas.

Those figures were likely similar at other popular sportsbooks, as the U.S. had won the past two World Cups and four of the eight tournaments overall.