The United States Men’s National Team begins a critical trio of World Cup qualifiers with Thursday night’s game against El Salvador in Columbus, Ohio.
Midway through the CONCACAF qualifying schedule, the USMNT (4-1-3) is currently in second place with 15 points, one point behind Canada and one ahead of Mexico and Panama.
The U.S. is a heavy favorite Thursday night, opening at -400 with BetMGM, with the odds shortened to -550 by Thursday afternoon. El Salvador is being backed by 50 percent of the total bets with +1450 longhshot odds, but 76 percent of the money is supporting the USMNT. The match resulting in a tie has drawn 11 percent of the bets and just 2 percent of the money at +550.
The most popular prop bet at the sportsbook has been the USMNT winning by an exact score of 2-1 at +850 odds.
The USMNT team is seeking to make a strong push to secure its first World Cup spot since 2014. Canada is first in the group with 16 points and the teams will face each other in Hamilton, Ontario on Sunday.
The U.S. will also play Honduras in St. Paul, Minn. on Feb. 2. The top three teams automatically qualify for this year’s World Cup in Qatar, while the fourth-place team advances to a playoff to earn a spot.
Facing the key three-match stretch, the USMNT called stars Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie back from their European teams along with 13 players in MLS. Pulisic is being offered at +115 by BetMGM to score a goal Thursday night while McKennie has +150 odds to score at least once.
The USMNT is being offered at -4500 by SportsBetting.ag to qualify for the World Cup, giving the team an implied probably of 97.8 percent to reach Qatar. However, the U.S. is also being offered as a +8000 longshot to win the 2022 World Cup title.
To get there, the U.S. must first take care of business in the CONCACAF region. Thursday night’s forecast in Columbus calls for a high of 30 degrees with a chance of snow flurries.
USMNT Roster:
Four goalkeepers were invited to camp last week including Matt Turner (New England Revolution), Zack Steffen (Manchester City in England), Sean Johnson (New York City FC) and Gabriel Slonina (Chicago Fire).
Defenders: Reggie Cannon (Boavista in Portugal), Sergino Dest (Barcelona), Brooks Lennon (Atlanta United), Mark McKenzie (KRC Genk in Belgium), Chris Richards (Hoffenheim in Germany), Antonee Robinson (Fulham in England), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United), DeAndre Yedlin (free agent) and Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC).
Midfielders: Kellyn Acosta (LAFC), Tyler Adams (RB Lepzig in Germany), Luca de la Torre (Heracles in the Netherlands), Sebastian Lletget (Revolution), McKennie, Yunus Musah (Valencia in Spain) and Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders).
Forwards: Brenden Aaronson (RB Salzburg in Austria), Paul Arriola (D.C. United), Jesus Ferreira (FC Dallas), Jordan Morris (Sounders), Ricardo Pepi (Augsburg in Germany), Pulisic, Tim Weah (Lille in France) and Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew).
–Field Level Media
