USA vs. El Salvador Prediction and Odds for 2022 CONCAAF World Cup Qualifying Match

The United States Men’s National Soccer Team will take on El Salvador on Thursday in a very important World Cup Qualifier for the USMNT. At 4-3-1, the United States currently ranks second in the CONCACAF Qualifying standings behind Canada at 4-4. The USA is just one point behind Canada but holds a mere one-point lead over Mexico and Panama who are tied for third. This is important because only the top three teams automatically qualify. This means that the USA is one slip up from possibly on the outside looking in.

That is really the end of the bad news for the USA because, on paper, El Salvador presents a very small challenge for the Yanks. Here are the odds for this 2022 Concacaf World Cup Qualifying match matchup courtesy of WynnBET. 

United States vs. El Salvador Odds and Over/Under

3-Way Moneyline: 

• United States: -550
• El Salvador: +1700
• Draw: +550

Over/Under: 2.5 (Over: -120/Under: -105)

United States vs. El Salvador Prediction and Pick

Right off the bat, I'll say that the USA has to lay a pretty big egg to mess this one up. El Salvador is 1-3-4 in qualifying and ranks 7th out of eight teams. Only 0-3-5 Honduras is having a worse time in qualifying. Also, the USA has never lost to El Salvador. Like, ever. With Mexico and Panama breathing down their necks, this would be the worst possible time to break that streak. 

After putting on a good show in the 2021 Gold Cup, many thought that El Salvador could actually make some noise in the final round of qualifying. But, after eight games, El Salvador has just one win and currently earned just six points. 

The USA, meanwhile, is the healthiest they have been in a while, including having two very talented keepers in Zack Steffen and Matt Turner. The offense is led by Christian Pulisic who has eight goals in 17 career WCQ games for the USMNT. He will have the help of Weston McKennie and Brendan Aaronson who bring 13 combined international goals and some youth to the lineup. Worth noting that this game is taking place at the Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio. This is good news for the US considering they are on an 18 game win streak on their home soil.

They have also not allowed a team to score more than one goal since last June and are on a 12-3-1 run since then. These two teams have played 24 times and the best that El Salvador has produced is a tie. In their last five games, the US outscored them 15-2. While it is obvious the US should win this game easily, there is little value in betting them outright. Because this is as close to a “must-win” game for the US as it gets, I think they don’t take any chances and try to run up the score on a lesser opponent. Therefore, I think the OVER 2.5 goals is a better bet than anything on the ML. 

Lean: USA & El Salvador OVER 2.5 (-120)