There’s never such a thing as free money. That’s what one Polymarket user found out after placing a massive $1M bet on Spain to defeat Cape Verde.
Cape Verde is not a favorite to go far in the World Cup. The tiny island nation is playing in its first-ever FIFA World Cup and in their first match, they faced off against the 2010 champions in Spain.
Spain was the heavy favorite at -1200 and had a 92% chance to emerge victorious. As such, some fans saw the opportunity as a quick buck by making a bet.
In one viral post, a Polymarket user put $999,068 on Spain to win, risking about $1M to win $1,085,943.48.
Despite the odds, Cape Verde defied them.
🚨BREAKING: Someone just put $1M on Spain to WIN their match vs Cape Verde today
This pays out is $1,085,943.48 on Polymarket pic.twitter.com/7ODo3dJ7Pl
— Polymarket Sports (@PolymarketSport) June 15, 2026
Cape Verde’s shock Spain draw costs fan $1M as another wins $4.7M
On June 15, Cape Verde kept Spain off the scoresheet, ending the match in a surprising 0-0 tie.
Because the bet was for Spain to win, the draw meant that he lost the $1M bet, and according to reports, he was far from the only one to lose money on the game.
Spain to win was the most-bet World Cup wager so far on BetMGM. “From a trading perspective, this was a significant result for the trading floor, with Spain heavily backed by bettors across both straight bets and parlays,” explained Mark Bickerdike, head of soccer at Caesars Sportsbook.
Still, going into the match, many expected Spain and felt like the bet was a sure thing.
“This is literally free money,” X user Matty Chucks said. “This is a free $100K, or $80K. I don’t care. Argue at the wall. I’m always right.”
Meanwhile, on the flip side, a fan named ‘fishalive’ took the 9% chance that Spain wouldn’t win and made a $427K bet to walk away with $4,702,769.23.
Only time will tell what the rest of the World Cup holds for the team, but the country has already earned the respect of fans, just like how Japanese supporters went viral for cleaning up the stadium after the match.
