The World Cup doesn’t officially start until November 20, so hopefully the majority of bettors are still gathering intel, running their projections and deciding which teams to take.
The early bettors, however, are in for a rough go of it.
According to ESPN’s David Purdum, some sportsbooks are already seeing heavy action on the United States to win the tournament, which….no. It’s not happening. Not this year. Probably not this decade, either.
The USMNT is +10000 to win the World Cup in Qatar at BetMGM. Those are the 12th-best odds on the board, but don’t quite tell the full story. The Americans are in the same group as England and Wales. England is -350 to win the group while Wales is +600. The U.S. are +550—and even money to advance out of group play.
There are roughly two times as many bets on @USMNT to win the World Cup than on any other team at @FDSportsbook. Team USA is 120/1.
— David Payne Purdum (@DavidPurdum) November 8, 2022
Brazil (+400) is the favorite to win the tournament, followed by France (+600), Argentina (+600) and England (+700).
For further context, the United States has the same odds to win the World Cup as:
- UCLA to win the College Football Playoff
- The Cincinnati Reds to win the 2023 World Series
- The Cleveland Browns to win the Super Bowl
- The Utah Jazz to win the Western Conference
- The Oakland Athletics to sign Aaron Judge
The Americans’ odds are certainly worth taking a flier on for rooting interest alone, but more than likely these tickets will become a nice donation to sportsbooks everywhere.
