World Cup futures: Brazil, Spain, Argentina favorites

By Covers.com | Monday, June 28, 2010

Bad calls or not, both Germany and Argentina got slight bumps in their future odds for their impressive (albeit referee-aided) victories on Sunday.

For the second time on Sunday a disputed goal played a role in the outcome of a World Cup game as Argentina used a controversial score to eliminate Mexico 3-1.

Carlos Tevez was offside when he took a pass from Lionel Messi and headed it home for the match's first goal of the game at the 26-minute mark. The referee was surrounded by players on both sides arguing the call.

Gonzalo Higuain added another goal seven minutes later and Tevez scored for the second time in the 52nd minute to advance to the quarterfinals.

It was the second match of the day that featured a controversial call on a goal. England appeared to score on a shot off the crossbar that was missed by the officials in a 4-1 loss to Germany. England saw a potential tying goal by Frank Lampard in the first half ignored by officials and mustered little thereafter.

Argentina became the third best bet to win the World Cup as its odds moved to 15/4, behind only Spain (4/1) and Brazil (10/3). Germany improved to fifth in the odds at 7/1, slightly behind the Netherlands (13/2).