Why I bet $1,000 on UNDER 3.5 goals in the World Cup
59sReveals a real $1,000 trade with a contrarian under play, giving viewers a concrete edge before the match ends.
▶ Play Clip"Delivers the promised knockout strategy with three clear angles, though sponsor plugs and self-promotion add some filler."
The video presents a comprehensive strategy for profiting from World Cup knockout stage matches on Polymarket. Johnny, host of In The Money, shares three core betting angles—'no' on underdogs, unders on goal totals, and both teams to score—based on observed defensive trends in the tournament.
Johnny recaps his earlier video on profiting from the World Cup group stage using Polymarket, noting it was well-received.
There were no major upsets, only draws, so betting 'no' on underdogs was the best play and generated profit.
With 32 teams, the knockout round has 16 games, followed by 8, 4, 2, and 1, leaving about 25–30 matches.
Matches are tightly contested and defensive, with underdogs 'parking the bus' to force extra time and penalties.
He places $1,000 on under 3.5 goals for Norway vs Ivory Coast at 74 cents, expecting low-scoring games.
Unlike the group stages, he mostly takes unders in knockout matchups like Portugal-Croatia and Mexico-Ecuador.
He profits by betting 'no' on weaker teams (e.g., Ivory Coast not to win), which hedges against draws or losses.
He also uses spreads like 'Norway not to win by more than 1.5 goals' to get more favorable odds.
In competitive matches, he expects both teams to score, and sees value in markets like Portugal vs Croatia.
The three strategies are: 'nos' against lesser sides, unders, and both teams to score.
He mentions Funding Predicts for funded accounts and the Share app for copying top traders.
The presenter advocates a cautious, value-driven approach to knockout matches, focusing on defensive play, hedging with 'no' bets, and under totals, while leveraging funded accounts and copy trading to scale profits.
What was the most profitable play during the World Cup group stages?
Betting 'no' on the underdog/lesser side, because there were no major upsets but many draws.
01:45
What is the standard line for goal totals in soccer betting?
Two and a half goals.
05:00
Why does the presenter prefer 'under' bets in knockout stages?
Teams park the bus and play defensively, leading to low-scoring games.
04:44
What does 'no' on an underdog mean in Polymarket?
It means the underdog will not win the match in regulation; a draw or loss for the underdog wins the bet.
06:30
What happens to the 30-minute overtime period for regulation bets?
It does not count; only regulation plus stoppage time matters.
11:01
What three strategies does the presenter use for the knockout stages?
Betting 'no' on lesser sides, taking unders on goal totals, and betting both teams to score.
12:42
What price did he get for under 3.5 goals in Norway vs Ivory Coast?
74 cents.
05:15
Shift from overs to unders
Shows a clear tactical pivot from group stages to knockouts based on defensive trends.
03:45Hedging with 'no' on underdogs
Profitable technique that capitalizes on draws and protects against upsets.
06:30Both teams to score as a value market
Identifies an overlooked market that repeatedly cashed in knockout games.
09:37Leveraging funded accounts
Introduces a way to trade with $10K without risking personal capital.
13:28[00:01] The whole world is focused on the World Cup at this point in time, and there are millions and millions of dollars going into these markets on Poly Market every single day. In this video, I'm going to go over how I plan to profit and my strategy on the knockout stages. So,
[00:17] we are heading into the knockout matches. We have the bracket set for the entirety of the rest of the World Cup. So, how are we planning to profit on this? There are people making tons of capital by trading the World Cup. I'll show you in this video. So,
[00:33] Guys, if you're new to the channel, drop down below, hit the like button, subscribe to the channel. My name is Johnny. This is In the Money, and we go over everything you need to win in crypto prediction markets and more Monday through Friday on this channel. And of course,
[00:49] a big shout out to our sponsors down below in the description. Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. I had posted this video here two and a half weeks ago: How to Profit on the World Cup
[01:01] using Poly Market. Now, you all really enjoyed this video. The feedback, the views, the likes, and the comments. It feels like you guys really took advantage of the information that was shared there, which is awesome to see because the strategy actually worked out quite well.
[01:18] Looking at goal totals against big teams versus some of the weaker teams, we saw some of these teams put up crazy amounts of goals from France to Norway, which had some high-scoring games. Spain,
[01:31] Germany, etc. Some of these teams ended up going over those team totals and those goal totals. And then also, most importantly, we really profited on the "no." So there were no major upsets during
[01:45] the World Cup rounds, the group stages, should I say. There were ties. There were not big upsets, not wins by the lesser side. We had some shocking draws from Cape Verde. We had a couple of draws
[02:01] for some of these big clubs, but otherwise, they didn't win. So, if you traded the "no" on those positions against the weaker team, you were hedging. And so many people lost money by just putting money on the popular squad. England when they drew, I believe it was against Ghana,
[02:18] I think it was. And then also, especially Spain versus Cape Verde. So going "no" on the underdogs was the best play possible for those group stages because there weren't big upsets, but there
[02:32] were big draws. So you were able to hedge that position. So we were able to come out in profit during the group stages, and that was really thanks to the info shared in this first video. Today is more so focused on the knockout stages. Let's look at the knockout bracket here. We can
[02:50] see we got a lot of action. I believe the World Cup now with 32 teams. So there's 16 games this round, eight games next round. There's going to be four games, two games, and then one game. So
[03:03] we have about 25 to 30 matches left, more or less, just quick math off the top of my head. We can see here some of these results coming in. And you can see a lot of these have been tightly contested,
[03:16] highly defensive matches. So that's going to factor into our strategy. A lot of these teams now are going to try to park the bus if they are underdogs. Teams like Paraguay yesterday, teams like Morocco. The Netherlands really didn't do the majority of the attacking,
[03:32] and we'll take you to penalties." And Morocco was able to win that game. So, how are we planning to trade the knockouts? Let's just jump right into it. First and foremost,
[03:45] some of these matchups you see right now: Norway versus the Ivory Coast, or France versus Sweden, or later tonight, we have Mexico versus Ecuador. And I'll actually show you some of my positions right now. So for today, I have under three and a half goals on Norway versus Ivory Coast. Now,
[04:02] this is going to definitely play a factor for my first initial strategy, which is goal totals. And opposed to the group stages where a lot of these high-class squads were scoring a ton of goals,
[04:15] you can actually come through here, and let's go over to Norway versus the Ivory Coast. This is actually going on right now. And you can see here I have $1,000 on $1,088. Really, it was about
[04:30] $900 in risk on under three and a half goals. So to me, after watching all those games yesterday, the highest scoring being Brazil and Japan at 2 to 1, these teams are really trying to park the bus,
[04:44] trying not to expose their backline, trying not to get beat. A lot of these teams are willing to play for that overtime, extra time period, and then also penalty shootouts because if you get to penalties, truly anything can happen. So for me, in a lot of these tighter contested matchups,
[05:00] even though I think Norway is better than the Ivory Coast, they've been playing quite nicely throughout the tournament. So for me, I have under three and a half goals. And of course, the standard line is two and a half, but I was able to get this at 74 cents. So a nice,
[05:15] 33% or so return on investment if this was to come through. Right now, this game is in the second half. Let's just check in. 63 minutes in the books, and this one is one to nothing, and
[05:29] we would have to have sacrificed four goals for us to lose that position. So that's a big one for me. I'm going to be looking at the knockout bracket throughout the tournament, and just kind of looking through these, I think France and Sweden might not be applicable for this one,
[05:45] but Portugal and Croatia certainly. I don't see a ton of goals there. When you look at stuff like Belgium and Senegal, I think that's going to be a pretty tightly contested defensive matchup. Mexico versus Ecuador, I would be very surprised to see that one become a goal fest at
[06:01] the end of the day. Argentina, Cape Verde, Cape Verde has played very solid defense over the course of this tournament. So, there are a lot of games that I'm going to be targeting goal totals, but the opposite way. I'm going to be going a lot of unders, whereas in the group stages,
[06:17] I was going over most of the time. And then also, I'm taking advantage of "nos" again against these underdogs. So like today, you could have gotten Ivory Coast at 70% just not to win the match.
[06:30] That is a very, very good proposition. And also, I got Norway not to win by more than one and a half, which means if Norway just wins by one, I win that selection. It was a little bit better price. It
[06:44] was in the 60s as opposed to going against Ivory Coast directly. But this is definitely a type of a round where yesterday you could have gone "no" against Paraguay. You could have gone "no" against either Netherlands or Morocco. Really, most people would have gone against Morocco. Even though
[06:59] Morocco did advance, and that was not a surprise to me, but I think to a lot of people today you could go Ivory Coast "no." I think that Sweden's a little too expensive today, for example. But just looking at some of these matches, you could probably go Cape Verde "no." You could look at
[07:15] something like Croatia "no," Austria "no," Bosnia "no," just depending on the percentages. So, that protects you if there's a draw or if the other team wins, you win that selection. So,
[07:30] it is a perfect hedge. And also, I'm taking advantage of spreads. So that is what we are on right now. Just Norway not to win by more than one goal. Also, later today I have France to win,
[07:43] and then I have Mexico versus Ecuador under two and a half goals. So this goes back to that first strategy. I just think a lot of these teams are going to be more physical. They're going to be really putting out their best defense while also trying to put an attack out there. You don't want
[07:57] to get compromised on that back end, especially with some of these tighter matched teams. So that is strategy number one. I am certainly looking to play spreads because I think that these games will be very close, and you can alternate these spreads. You can manipulate these spreads on
[08:12] Poly Market. And then number two, I'm absolutely looking to exploit the goal market because to me, I would be very surprised to see a lot of three to three games throughout this knockout stage. A lot
[08:25] of these teams, and especially the lesser teams, are just going to be really parking the bus, trying not to sacrifice a goal as opposed to going full out attack, and then the counterattack is going to beat these lesser teams. These teams are going to
[08:39] definitely play defense. So that's strategy number one, is definitely exploiting totals. Before we move on, also I do want to give a shout. If you want to follow all of the action, so get all of my trades, get all of my team's trades across prediction markets. We
[08:53] are opening up the In The Money Discord just for $49 a month. Literally, probably one of the highest value per dollar ROI that you can get out there if you're joining a server, and
[09:06] especially for prediction markets. We're one of the first catered Poly Market and Kalshi servers out there. You'll get all of my selections, strategies, etc. So check out inthemoney.live down below in the description. It's just $49 a month. We haven't even opened this yet. So,
[09:22] you will be literally first in line. And we've been absolutely crushing this World Cup alongside some of the traders that will be joining me. So, check out inthemoney.live down below. Number two, another market that I'm certainly going to be taking a look at throughout this
[09:37] tournament is both teams to score. So, now that we are in the knockouts, a lot of these teams, yesterday we saw three different games. All three of them were both teams to score, and they were
[09:49] all one to one at certain points in time. So, that caters to the unders like we were talking about. But number two, it caters to both teams scoring. And if I was to look across the board here, I could totally see Portugal, Croatia one to one at some point in time. I could even see Austria break
[10:07] the line and score against Spain. Bosnia and USA maybe not. Bosnia's attack is not the best, but then again, they could absolutely break through. A match like Australia and Egypt, both teams to
[10:20] score. I absolutely could see that. Something like Switzerland and Algeria, maybe not. There will definitely be times like yesterday both teams to score was money in the bank for the Morocco
[10:32] game and especially for the Japan game. And I tweeted out yesterday, this was one of my picks. My favorite play yesterday was Brazil and Japan. Both teams to score, and this one cashed by the beginning of the second half. So that's another market I'm definitely looking to exploit.
[10:48] So so far, we are going "nos" still against the lesser sides because even if they tie after regulation, it doesn't count for penalty kicks. So it's just regulation time plus stoppage, the extra
[11:01] added time. The 30-minute overtime period does not count for these regulation plays. So yesterday, "no" Paraguay, "no" either Morocco or Netherlands, paid out quite nicely. And today, people who are
[11:15] on "nos" against the Ivory Coast are already looking like that's going to be a pretty secure profit, as long as this game holds, which there is 20 minutes left in this match. So "nos" against
[11:27] lesser sides. That still stands from the initial Poly Market profit video for the World Cup. Number two is goals, but more so I'm targeting unders in this tournament. I am not targeting overs.
[11:40] I think that a lot of these teams are going to be physical. They're going to be chippy. They're going to be playing defense. Number three is both teams to score. We've seen it every single match so far, other than this one, which I did not play both teams to score in this one as I am
[11:54] on the under three and a half goals. But I do think both teams to score will be quite a nice selection throughout. And especially, like I said, looking at this bracket, I can see a ton of games lining up where it might be two to one, one to one after regulation. Some of these games like France,
[12:11] Sweden could be three or four to one. That's not one I'm going to take the under on personally. But this is where I'm finding value, especially after day one of the knockouts. But just seeing the way that these smaller teams are playing. I say smaller because Germany, Netherlands, Brazil,
[12:29] even the way that Japan was playing, and then watching right now how Ivory Coast is playing. They're playing very conservatively. They know they need to break through, but they also know they can't let Haaland beat them on the backside. And you're going to see
[12:42] a lot of that from these smaller teams throughout the rest of the tournament. So those are the three angles I'm really looking to exploit: "nos" against the weaker side, also unders and manipulating that line to two and a half, three and a half depending on the
[12:56] game and depending on the values. If I can get under three and a halfs in some of these tightly contested matchups at the 70% range, that is an absolute play for me. Obviously, this is matchup dependent. You need to do research, look at these teams, the matchup itself,
[13:13] etc. And then number three also is both teams to score in some of these very, very competitive matchups. We've seen every single side so far other than this one go both teams to score. So, we'll see what happens here after today's matches.
[13:28] I do want to give a shout out as well. I know a lot of people are looking to trade Poly Market and maybe don't have access to a ton of capital. But that changes now. You can actually get funded
[13:41] on Poly Market through Funding Predicts. I think it's one of the best values out there actually for a 10K challenge. So, you pass this challenge, they'll give you $10,000 to trade with for $72. You can use the link down below and get 20% off as well. If you trade and hit the target,
[13:57] they will fund your account with $10,000, and then you keep 90% of the profits. So, you don't even have to risk your own capital. That was the platform I was showing you guys today
[14:09] on these markets, and I'm actively looking right now to get a 25K account funded. I'm in progress on that challenge as we speak. So, that's the way I plan to profit in the group stages. And then of
[14:22] course, last but not least, I would check out the Share app because you can see the most profitable traders. There are guys making millions of dollars on the World Cup right now, and you can literally get notified on their action. You can follow them, get push notifications to your phone,
[14:35] and then literally instantly copy trade them. So, if you don't feel like you have an edge, there are smart traders on there, and you can follow my picks on there as well. I also put some of my action through the Share app. So, I'll link down below Funding Predicts if you're
[14:48] looking to potentially get capital to trade with on Poly Market, and then also the Share app. But above all else, it's been a very profitable World Cup so far despite some of the shocking upsets in
[15:01] this last round and the draws in the group stage. But because we are more so exploiting the "nos" over the "yeses," that's really balanced itself out, and we haven't been burnt too hard on those selections. So, that's my strategy moving forward in the knockout stages. We're going to have some
[15:17] live streams for some games coming up as well. So, guys, subscribe to the channel down below if you're new. We talk about Poly Market, investing, crypto every single week here on this channel. And like the video down below. It helps us get in front of more people who are prediction market,
[15:31] Poly Market enthusiasts just like yourself. I'll see you guys on tomorrow's video. As always, trade responsibly, my friends, and of course, stay bullish, my friends.
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