bet365 refunded £1.6m on Sunday as both Spain and Denmark were knocked out of the World Cup on penalties.

The firm is once again running its ‘Penalty Payback’ offer, where you get a refund if your Win or Each-Way selection to win the tournament is eliminated by a shoot-out.

So Denmark went out to Croatia, but the real issue for bet365 was favourites Spain bowing out to hosts Russia, which cost them big time.

The offer runs right up until the World Cup Final on July 15 – so more pain could be yet to come.

bet365’s Steve Freeth “The Spain refund was a lot more than the Denmark one, but the offer has already shown its worth just a few games into the knockout stages.”

bet365 were also hit with a big pay out on both Japan and Belgium on Monday night as Roberto Martinez’s side fought back from 2-0 down to win 3-2.

The firm has an ‘Early Payout Offer’ where pre-match single bets on a full-time result get paid out as a winner if the team you back goes two goals ahead.

bet365’s Steve Freeth “As yet we haven’t had too many kicks in the teeth at this tournament, but that late Chadli winner has left us with our worst In-Play result of the World Cup so far.

“We’d already paid out on Japan when they went 2-0 up and then we’ve seen punters latch onto Belgium to win at fancy prices (biggest 20/1) when they were chasing the game.”