USA vs Canada
Fresh from winning the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup a month ago — where they defeated Mexico in extra time thanks to Miles Robinson’s 117th minute header — there’s a real buzz about US football or soccer as they call it right now.
After their North American triumph, now it’s time to focus on the World Cup 2022 qualifiers and a much bigger stage – at Qatar next autumn when the whole world will be watching.
Can they live up to their favourites tag and reach the World Cup after missing out in 2018?
Talking Points
After a tournament which produced some special moments, the USA celebrated in style this summer.
The Stars and Stripes didn’t make a blistering start, although Sam Vines’ early goal was enough to see off Haiti since when they went from strength to strength.
They will now want to make winning start by gathering positive World Cup 2022 results.
There’s some attractive names in their squad too, including Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic, Borussia Dortmund’s Giovanni Reyna, and Juventus’ Weston McKennie.
Certainly, they were the headline names announced in the 26-man roster.
USA met El Salvador to kick off their World Cup qualifying campaign with a scoreless draw – the first of three qualifiers in seven days.
Missing from that encounter was star man Pulisic and goalkeeper Zack Steffen who both stayed in the States with the hope of being fit enough to play against Canada.
Pulisic is regaining his fitness after sitting out for a prolonged period following a positive COVID-19 test while back spasms forced Steffen to sit out.
Like the US, Canada had its first taste of the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying on Thursday and also had to settle for a point, earning a hard-fought draw with Honduras.
It was Canada’s first match in the final qualifying round since the lead-up to France 98 and an instant reality check with two valuable home points dropped.
There is a genuine feeling among the staff and players in the Canadian men’s national team that they can qualify for Qatar – a result that seemed unthinkable when head coach John Herdman took over in January 2018 and when the team sat 95th in FIFA’s world rankings.
Now at 59th, Canada are in the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualification for the first time since 1997. Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David, and Cyle Larin have played critical roles in the team’s on-field success and the creation of a core group of players off it.
They lost narrowly to USA in this summer’s Gold Cup tournament, progressing to the semi-final where they put up a good showing and lost narrowly to then holders Mexico.
Yet the draw with Honduras was a disappointing start to qualifying where the top three in the final round-robin will reach Qatar 2022 with the fourth-placed finisher taking part in an intercontinental playoff to see who joins them.
Those opening draws make this contest all important for both nations.
History
The USA and Canada must have one of the longest sporting rivalries in history, not just here in football.
Needless to say, that every single time Americans and Canadians meet in any sport, fierce competition is expected. And considering what’s at stake this time, this game won’t be the exception to that rule.
Their very first football clash was a friendly back in 1885 in the USA.
They have won 18 of their encounters with Canada overall while the Canadians triumphed on 10 occasions with a further 10 draws.
Of course, if you follow the CONCACAF Gold Cup you won’t need me to tell you that the nations met a matter of six weeks ago when a first minute goal from Shaq Moore settled the encounter in a group match.
They also met twice in 2019 when home advantage proved crucial.
Canada won on their own turf courtesy of goals from Alphonso Davies and Lucas Cavallini. A month later, the US won 4-1 at home with Jordan Morris, Gyasi Zardes, and Aaron Long on target.
The last time they met in World Cup qualifiers was in 1997 when the likes of Alexi Lalas, John Harkes, and Eric Wynalda were in the US team which won 3-0 both home and away.
In fact, English football fans may recognise the scorers in the second of those games with former Sunderland football Claudio Reyna and former QPR man Roy Wegerle on target.
Betting Tip
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USA vs Canada | First Half 1X2 USA @ 2.19 |
| September 06, 08:00 (GMT+8) |
The newly-crowned Gold Cup champions are backed 1X2 @ 1.54, while Asian Handicap odds offer them -1.00 @ 2.00.
Canada are quite adrift both 1X2 @ 5.00 and Asian Handicap +1.00 @ 1.84.
Correct score 1-0, the same as their summer meeting, is on offer @ 5.20.
If Canada are to improve on that showing, then how about Double Chance Canada or Draw @ 2.16?
By the looks of it, goals are expected with over 2.50 goals only paying out @ 1.96.
The 1X2 draw is tempting with odds of @ 3.65.
The SBOTOP World Cup 2022 betting odds strongly back the USA and I am going to plump for the Americans.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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