The knockout phases of the World Cup have continued to enthral – and with many of the clashes going to the wire, the focus for punters has been on how to best bet on matches that go into extra time.

Six of the eight last 16 games went past the 90 minute mark with seven goals being scored in the additional period of 30 minutes.

So bearing this in mind, what are the best ways for punters to try and profit from their World Cup bets for the remaining eight games?

The first thing to highlight is a simple mistake some punters make when betting on fixed odds match prices in tournament football.

This is misunderstanding the difference between the ‘match odds’ – based on the score after 90 minutes – and the ‘to qualify’ prices – based on which team eventually makes it through, regardless of the score at full time.

E.g. Spreadex is offering Brazil at 5/6 to win their Friday quarter-final against Colombia in normal time but an industry-standout 4/9 to qualify, which includes via extra time or penalties.

So if Brazil were to draw after 90 minutes but progress either after extra time or via a shoot out, a bet on the 4/9 price would win whereas the match odds bet at 5/6 would lose.

With fixed odds betting there are other ways to bet on the extra time outcome such as Extra Time 30 Minute Match Odds or Named Team to Win in Extra Time or Named Team to Win on Penalties.

Spreadex, for example, are industry-standout 17/2 for Brazil to win against Colombia in extra time.

Placing football spread bets on extra time markets

However, football spread betting is where betting on extra time really comes to life with a number of ways on offer to try and profit from a game going the full distance.

Remember that when spread betting on football, your losses can exceed your deposit should your bet go against you so it’s always worth being aware of your potential downside and choosing your stake size accordingly.

When spread betting on football matches in knockout phases you can choose to play on your selection with a make-up, or final outcome, based either on 90 minutes or including extra time.

So to explain, when looking at Friday’s France v Germany quarter-final you can choose to play the regular Total Goal Minutes market (the minute in which each goal is scored in a match, aggregated) on a spread of 116 – 126 or you can choose to play Extra Time Total Goal Minutes on a spread of 22 – 30.

The difference here is that if the game does not go into extra time, your Extra Time Total Goal Minutes bet would make up at 0. So a £1 buy at 30 would make-up at 0 meaning a £30 loss ((0 – 30) x £1).

However, should the match go into extra time and there are goals in extra time then you could be potentially looking at a large make-up. E.g. when Germany beat Algeria 2-1 in the last 16 with all three goals coming in the additional 30 minutes, Extra Time Total Goal Minutes made up at a huge 331. Punters who bought at 25 before kick-off in this particular instance made a whopping 306 times their initial stake.

Remember that if you choose to play on the Extra Time markets when the game has actually reached extra time (as opposed to before the initial kick-off) the prices will have shifted dramatically to represent the increased chances of goals being scored.

So punters who waited until after the end of 90 minutes of the Germany v Algeria game before placing their Extra Time Total Goal Minutes bet would have been playing on a spread of 171 – 181 instead of the smaller pre-match quote.

Extra Time markets are available for all the usual popular football spread betting markets such as Supremacy, Total Goals, Shirts, Bookings, Corners, Match Performance, Multicorners, Cross-Corners etc. with all prices available to play on beforehand for those who feel brave enough to try and get a better price than waiting until the outcome after 90 minutes.

So if you are looking for a bit extra from your World Cup betting than just the usual limited fixed odds selections for bets over 120 minutes, take a look at the spreads and extend your enjoyment of punting on matches that go the full distance.