At long last, today is the day that Team USA soccer have been waiting for: after missing out on the last World Cup, an exciting team is set to make it’s debut in the against Wales on Monday afternoon. Unsurprisingly, bettors are all over the Americans in the matchup. Let’s dive deeper into the USA-Wales odds. Be sure to visit the OddsShopper tool for more best bets and trends.
The USA side currently sits as a slight favorite.
USA-Wales Odds & Trends
Per BetMGM:
- USA: +140
- Wales: +220
- Tie: +210
- Total: Over 2.5 (+145), Under 2.5 (-185)
According to BetMGM data analyst John Ewing, 79% of bets and 85% of money is on USA to come away with the win. 10% of bets and 7% of money is on a tie. And 11% of bets and 8% of money is on Wales. 60% of bets and 56% of handle is on the over.
The top three most bet props in the matchup are on both teams to score (+100), Christian Pulisic to score anytime goal (+320), and Gareth Bale to score first goal (+400).
When talking about picking his lineup against an ‘underrated’ Wales team, USA head coach Gregg Berhalter said he was looking for the group that would come out fearless in the first matchup.
“We’re looking at the game in its entirety and thinking about how we can be successful,” Berhalter said via The Guardian. “We want to be an aggressive team in this game. We want to be able to hurt them, but we also know that they have strengths and they have threats and we want to be able to take them away.
“So when picking a lineup, we’ve focused on guys that we think can execute it from the onset, but also keeping in mind that our [substitutions] are going to be really important in this game and throughout the World Cup. We know that it’s not just the 11 on the field, we’re going to need the solutions to come into the field and help this group get the win.”
Even though USA is considered a long shot to make a run in the World Cup, coach Gregg Berhalter is feeling confident about the team he’s bringing to Qatar.
“What I do believe,” he said to ESPN, “is that on our best day we can beat anyone in the world. Anyone.”
USA is currently an even -110 to make it past the Group Stage.
