NFL
Following a long qualifying campaign, the United States’ men’s soccer team is now aware of their challenge at the 2022 World Cup. The draw for the group stages in Qatar has been made and USMNT’s opponents are (almost) decided.
Standing in the US’ way are England, Iran, and one final qualifier. The teams in the frame for that last group slot are Wales, Scotland, and Ukraine, and one of those nations will join up in Group B ahead of the tournament.
USMNT’s Opponents Assessed
England will offer the toughest challenge to any team in this group. Coach Gareth Southgate’s men reached the semifinals of the previous World Cup in 2018 and were the beaten finalists at the European Championships in 2021.
This is a young side that is improving all the time and many feel that England can go all the way at Qatar 2022.
There isn’t as much enthusiasm around Iran. The national team has reached four of the last six World Cups but they have failed to progress beyond the group stages on each occasion. Iranian sides have claimed some impressive results in the past but are likely to lack the consistency to trouble teams on a regular basis.
That just leaves the final qualifier. World events mean that Ukraine has yet to complete their playoff match against Scotland. With Wales awaiting the winner of that contest, any one of three sides could be joining England, Iran, and the USA.
The Neutral Verdict
The sports betting companies are offering some clear encouragement to followers of the USMNT. According to the best betting sites in the UAE for 2022, England is the hot favorite to win Group B but the US is in second place.
Following on, Wales, Scotland, and Ukraine are among the outside bets while Iran is the complete underdog. As the World Cup draws closer and the final qualifier is known, those odds, as supplied via sources at Arabianbetting.com, will start to adjust. Any updates in the markets for the tournament will be clearly shown.
While here, visitors can also take in a number of articles relating to soccer while it’s also possible to access those markets. If a sports betting company is mentioned by Arabianbetting.com, they will be happy to accept new registrations subject to availability.
Once sign-up has been completed, there is a choice of deposit methods while the majority of operators also have generous welcome packages. Moving forward, the option to bet on mobile plus the possibility of live streaming top-class sports are among the other advantages.
To summarize, it’s one of the best sites to follow at this year’s World Cup but is that assessment of USMNT’s chances an accurate one?
How far can the US go at Qatar 2022?
The good news is that the top two teams in each section will progress to the knockout stages of Qatar 2022. So, if England is the dominant team as expected, three other sides will be fighting for one remaining place.
The absence of the final qualifier makes things a little hard to assess but the USMNT should ease past Iran. Upsets can always happen in world football but it would be a huge shock if the Iranians didn’t finish at the bottom of this group.
If those results go according to the form book, the USA may lose to England but they should be looking to gain a comfortable win over Iran. In that scenario, there would be a showdown, winner-takes-all game against the final qualifiers in Group B.
Of the three teams in contention, Wales may offer the toughest challenge. The team reached the semifinals of the European Championships in 2016 and they are a competitive side with a great team spirit.
If Wales are to succeed at the United States’ expense, much will depend on their star player Gareth Bale. There are ongoing fitness concerns over the Real Madrid attacker but the Welsh will be a threat to anyone if Bale is in their team.
The USMNT are due to play the unknown qualifiers in their first group game on November 21st. Victory in that tie would set the team up for a likely run into the knockouts.
