World Cup

Belgium — Senegal

Our backtest says that, with the sharp market making Belgium the most likely outcome at 45% (fair odds 2.20), Matchbook offered 2.28, a gap of +3.5% above the fair price (Strong value). This was reconstructed on 26 September 2026, not recorded at the time. Recent form — Belgium: WDDWW; Senegal: WLLDL.

After the whistle

Belgium 3–2 Senegal half-time 0–1

After extra time. The market prices below are for 90 minutes, so they are checked against the 90-minute score (2–2).

Match stats

Match statsBelgiumSenegal
Possession %5248
Expected goals (xG)1.803.54
Shots1919
Shots on target55
Corners42
Yellow cards11
Red cards00
Fouls2212
Offsides22
Goalkeeper saves33
Pass accuracy %8684

What the market said before kick-off

  • Belgium win 50% did not happen
  • Draw 28% happened
  • Senegal win 22% did not happen
  • Both teams score 60% happened
  • Backtest flag (reconstructed afterwards, not recorded at the time): 1 · Belgium @ 2.28 (Matchbook) Lost

CLV +13.4% vs the fair close. One flag on its own says little; the rule is judged on all of them.

Pinnacle closing price with the margin removed, next to what happened. It is the market's view, not a tip: an outcome priced at 30% happens about 3 times in 10.

Referee: Said Martinez, Honduras · Venue: Lumen Field, Seattle

Line-ups, events and match stats: API-Football.

Starting line-ups

Belgium 4-2-3-1

  1. Thibaut Courtois GK
  2. Timothy Castagne DF
  3. Brandon Mechele DF
  4. Arthur Theate DF
  5. Maxim De Cuyper DF
  6. Youri Tielemans MF
  7. Hans Vanaken MF
  8. Leandro Trossard MF
  9. Kevin De Bruyne MF
  10. Jérémy Doku MF
  11. Charles De Ketelaere FW

Senegal 4-3-3

  1. Mory Diaw GK
  2. Krépin Diatta DF
  3. Pathé Ismaël Ciss DF
  4. Moussa Niakhaté DF
  5. Ismail Jakobs DF
  6. Habib Diarra MF
  7. Idrissa Gana Gueye MF
  8. Pape Gueye MF
  9. Iliman Ndiaye FW
  10. Ismaïla Sarr FW
  11. Sadio Mané FW

Pinnacle, margin removed (home / draw / away): 46 / 29 / 25% when the line-ups came out, 50 / 28 / 22% at kick-off.

In the big leagues, line-up news is usually already in the price by the time it is official.

The most likely result is not the same as value: value is where a bookmaker pays more than the fair price, and the two can point to different outcomes.

Value opportunity before kick-off Strong value

1 Belgium @ 2.28
Bookmaker Matchbook
Price observed
Rule would have fired (backtest) @ 2.28 (Matchbook) · backtest — reconstructed afterwards
Market 1X2 (match result)
Availability and exact price varied by country and over time.
Fair price 2.20
Matchbook 2.28
Market Gap +3.5%
Confidence Medium
Model agreement High

Confidence reflects only the sharp probability of the selection: high from 50%, medium from 40%, low below. It says how likely the result is, not how big the price gap is. Model agreement shows how close our own model is to the sharp market on this selection — when it is Low, the market and our model disagree, so treat the flag with more caution.

Value flag result Lost · 1 -1.00u

Market discrepancy: before kick-off, Belgium (1) was priced at 2.28 by a soft bookmaker, above the fair price of 2.20 — a +3.5% gap. An observation about the price, not an instruction to bet.

A single result where a bookmaker pays above the fair price — separate from the main prediction below.

The market's two most likely results

1/X Belgium or draw 74% · as recorded

No single result was 55% likely or more when we logged the match, so this line adds up the two most likely outcomes (double chance).

1X2
Sharp, recorded45%29%26%
Other estimates
Our model46%27%27%

Sharp, recorded = Pinnacle when we logged the match (it can be days old). Our model = our own estimate, which on average predicts worse than the market.

Fair odds (as recorded) 1.35
Sharp odds recorded for this prediction (Pinnacle) 2.14 / 3.32 / 3.69
Result (not part of our track record) Won · X

Match context

Belgium averaged 2.6 goals scored and 0.4 conceded per game over their last 5 matches in our results database; Senegal averaged 2.0 and 1.8 over 5.

Since opening around 2.14, the sharp market price on Belgium has shortened to 2.01 — the market has moved towards this outcome.

These figures come from our own tracked results and odds snapshots for this fixture — not from a generic stats feed.

Market-relevant trends

Belgium is unbeaten in its last 5 matches.
✓ And the market hasn't fully priced it in: value flagged on Belgium at +3.5% above fair.
Senegal is averaging 2 goals scored over its last 5 matches.
No value Already reflected in the fair price — no value on Senegal here.

We show the trend and whether it is already in the price. Most sites show the streak and let you assume you should bet it.

Why this price?

Belgium
W D D W W
avg 2.6 scored · 0.4 conceded (last 5)
Senegal
W L L D L
avg 2 scored · 1.8 conceded (last 5)

Form: most recent match first.

Recent form and head-to-head from our settled results — context behind the fair price. The price itself comes from the sharp market, not from these alone.

Proof & methodology

The timestamped record of this prediction, and how the fair price is made.

Value lifecycle Settled

Would have been flagged (backtest) ·
1 Belgium · soft 2.28 (Matchbook) · fair 2.20 · edge +3.5%
Opening sharp
2.14
At close
2.01 · CLV +13.4%
Result
Lost -1.00u Backtest

“Detected” is the moment the flag was first shown on the site and written to our ledger (recorded live since 26 September 2026). For earlier matches the flag was reconstructed afterwards from the prices we had stored, and the time shown is when the rule would have fired: a backtest, not a live record. When the gap closes, we say so instead of pretending the value is still there.

Public, timestamped record

Logged before kick-off
Prediction record
Pick 1/X · Belgium or draw
Odds recorded for the prediction 1.30
Pinnacle closing odds (with margin) 1.26
Prediction CLV +3.3%
Result Won
Value-bet record

Backtest: reconstructed on 26 September 2026 by applying today’s rule to the prices stored before kick-off. It was not shown in this form at the time; its seal was created at the reconstruction, which for matches already played was after the match.

Value selection 1 · Belgium
Odds when the rule would have fired (reconstructed) 2.28
Fair odds 2.20
Fair closing odds (Pinnacle, margin removed) 2.01
Value CLV +13.4%
Profit (units) -1.00
Result Lost
Prediction hash — integrity fingerprint 6f1979ee477ad2b0

This hash fingerprints the prediction as recorded: teams, kick-off time, our model probabilities, the Pinnacle prices recorded for it (at logging or, if there were none, the first quoted after logging and before kick-off, which can be written in after the match) and the log time. A later edit to any of them would change it (a rescheduled kick-off changes it too). It does not cover closing prices, the result or the value-bet record above; value flags recorded live have their own seal in the public record. Verify in the public record →

Every day a snapshot of the full public record is published to a public Git repository and timestamped with OpenTimestamps. Timestamped snapshots are never overwritten and the Git history shows any difference, so a later change to a past row is visible by comparing two snapshots. The corrections file lists the corrections we announced. Verify on the public log →

Since 20 June 2026 the public record is snapshotted daily (07:40 Bucharest time: 04:40 UTC in summer time, 05:40 UTC in winter) to an external log. A prediction is externally timestamped before kick-off only if it was in a snapshot taken before the match; predictions logged on match day, or whose Pinnacle price was added after logging, first appear there after kick-off. Value flags have been recorded live only since 26 September 2026; earlier value flags were reconstructed on that date.

Methodology

The fair price comes from the sharp market itself: we strip the margin from Pinnacle-style odds — the most accurate public predictor in existence — and use our calibrated Elo + form model as a cross-check and as the fallback where no sharp price exists. Value is flagged only where a softer bookmaker prices a selection above that fair price, never on long shots (implied probability under 30%), and never beyond a plausible band. Most of the time there is no value — and we say so.

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