
On the early morning of June 16, 2026, in Group H’s first-round match of the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada, and Mexico, Cape Verde, making its first appearance in the World Cup final tournament, held reigning title favorites Spain to a 0-0 draw, who were ranked No. 2 in the world. Polymarket’s公開 trading records show that when the user name “betoor619” had Spain’s win probability at about 92%, the trader opened a long position of nearly $1.1 million, which ultimately ended with a loss of nearly $1 million.
According to Polymarket’s公开 trading records: when Spain’s win probability was about 92%, betoor619 established a long position of nearly $1.1 million; if Spain won, the expected profit was only about $85,000 (a typical “low-risk, low-return” strategy that trades large principal for modest, steady gains); ultimately, it lost $997,000 within 24 hours.
The records show that the account was opened last October. Before this, the profit and loss from any single event had never exceeded $9,000, and this bet’s size was more than a hundred times its historical record. Other traders also placed big bets on Spain to win, but most of them simultaneously executed hedging trades, offsetting losses to some extent. Polymarket allows large traders to act as market makers. In the same wager, they can hold both long and short positions at the mechanism level, which is similar to how Wall Street institutions make money by buying and selling the same stock to capture the price spread.
Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha made seven crucial saves during the match. After the game, he walked off the pitch with tears in his eyes and was selected as the Player of the Match. He said that visa issues prevented his mother from witnessing this historic moment firsthand; according to relevant regulations, visitors from certain countries, including Cape Verde, must pay a refundable deposit of up to $15,000. Vozinha described the match as a goal he had worked for during “his entire professional career.”
Spain had previously been the most heavily favored World Cup title candidate this edition: a Goldman Sachs model gave it a 25% chance to win the championship, the highest among all participating teams. Cape Verde, not only was making its debut, but also had no well-known professional players in its squad. The draw was also one of the many upsets since the tournament kicked off; earlier on Sunday, Japan leveled the match against the Netherlands in stoppage time.
According to reporting, the total trading volume on Polymarket among users for a Spain vs. Cape Verde match reached $64 million, reflecting the mainstreaming process of prediction market platforms like Polymarket—from earlier years when they mainly served as tools for betting on geopolitical and economic events, expanding to global sports events such as the World Cup.
Platform users trade through cryptocurrency wallets and can use anonymous accounts, without needing to reveal their real identity or location. The公开 trading records also provide the outside world with a window to observe users’ bet sizes and risk levels. Some legislators criticized the platform for failing to collect necessary user background information the way traditional brokers or bookmakers do.
Polymarket’s odds reflect the implied probability formed after all traders on the platform collectively place bets on the market, similar to the dynamic updating mechanism of betting odds. betoor619 opened a long position when Spain’s win probability reached about 92%, meaning the market overall expects Spain to win with a probability of more than nine in ten.
Based on Polymarket’s公开 trading records, betoor619’s account had never seen profit or loss on any single event exceed $9,000 before. This $1.1 million bet was more than a hundred times its historical record, but its specific motivation was not disclosed in the public records.
According to reporting, Polymarket allows large traders to simultaneously hold multiple long and short positions (a market-maker mechanism) to manage risk, but there is no mandatory stop-loss mechanism. The platform uses cryptocurrency wallets for anonymous trading, and some legislators criticized that this arrangement lacks user-protection measures comparable to those of traditional gambling companies.
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