Sportradar: Messi Accounted for 93% of Player-to-Score Bets in Argentina’s Match Against Austria

^{Pictured: Lionel Messi}

The match in which Lionel Messi became the all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup history generated strong betting interest in the Argentina forward, according to data from Sportradar.

The match between Argentina and Austria took place on 22 June in Dallas, Texas.

Argentina won 2-0, with Messi scoring both goals.

The goals took the Argentina captain’s overall World Cup tally to 18. His first goal took him past Germany’s Miroslav Klose, who scored 16 goals at men’s World Cups. With his second goal, Messi surpassed the across men’s and women’s World Cups, previously held by Brazilian footballer Marta Vieira da Silva, who scored 17 goals in women’s tournaments.

During the match, Sportradar processed more than four million betting tickets through a network of 250 betting operator clients. Most bets in the player-to-score market focused on Messi. Bets on Messi to score accounted for 93% of total betting volume in that market.

There was also strong interest in bets on Messi to score with his left foot. He accounted for 90% of betting volume in that segment. Both of his goals against Austria were scored with his left foot.

A further spike in betting activity followed Messi’s missed penalty in the eighth minute. According to Sportradar, around 10% of in-play bets were placed in the period immediately after the miss, between the 11th and 15th minutes.