We’re just 10 days away from the start of the World Cup. The tournament is set to run from November 20th to December 18th in what will be the northern hemisphere’s first winter World Cup ever. The US Men’s National team announced its 26 players that will be heading to Qatar yesterday. It’s an exciting time for American soccer fans. November 21st will mark the first time in 3,065 days the USMNT will play a World Cup match.
It’s time to preview and predict a few player props that you’ll need to keep your eye on throughout the tournament.
Tourney Special
The Golden Boot is the most popular player prop to bet on during the World Cup. The award goes to the top goalscorer of the tournament. To win this award it’s important for a player’s team to go deep in a tournament, thus giving the player more chances to score. FanDuel has recently opened up a bet under their Tourney Wagers where you can pick the winner of the World Cup and the Golden Boot winner to enhance your odds.
Argentina is one of the favorites to win this year’s World Cup. Lionel Messi also happens to be one of the favorites to win the Golden Boot. If you take this combination of Argentina winning it all and for Messi to win the Golden Boot you’ll have +3600 odds. These odds are much better than the ones listed for Messi to win the Golden Boot, which is +1400.
For even better odds you can take France to win it all while Messi takes home the Golden Boot. These odds are listed at +10000, meaning a $100 bet will pay out $10,000. France and Argentina are each projected to win their group and if they do they’ll be right on track to meet in the World Cup Final.
Golden Glove
Brazil goalkeeper Alisson is the best bet to win the Golden Glove Award this year. The Award is given to the best keeper of the tournament. Alisson has been playing well lately with Liverpool where he’s been able to hold a clean sheet in 4 of his last 7 appearances. The Brazil keeper is the favorite to win this award, holding +440 odds.
This Golden Glove often goes to the goalie of the winning team at the World Cup. It’s been that way in 3 of the last 4 tournaments, although not in the most recent staging when Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois won it while his team placed third. Brazil is in a good position to win it all this year. They’ll be bringing a talented team to Qatar, led by Neymar. Brazil is the favorite to win this year’s edition of the World Cup, making Alisson an even better bet to win the Golden Glove Award.
USA Leading Goalscorer
When it comes to the USMNT we’re taking Christian Pulisic to be the team’s leading goalscorer of this year’s tournament. He says he’s been waiting his whole life for this moment and his time is about to come. He’s struggling to score for Chelsea right now, but that’s partly because he hasn’t been seeing the pitch nearly as much as he’d like to, an issue he won’t have in Qatar. Even in his reduced role with Chelsea, he’s still shown great playmaking abilities.
One thing we know about Pulisic is that he shows up for his national team. He was the team’s leading goalscorer with 5 goals in World Cup qualifying. Back in the Gold Cup in 2019, Pulisic appeared in 6 games and found the back of the net 3 times, while also dishing out 3 assists. His odds to be the team’s leading goalscorer in Qatar are listed at +275 on BetRivers.
If you’re looking for longer odds, Weston McKennie is a good pick. McKennie, 24, is a midfielder that has gotten into good goal-scoring form for his club team, Juventus. He’s been able to find the back of the net twice in his last 3 games for his club. In 7 World Cup qualifying appearances, he scored 2 goals. McKennie’s odds to be the leading goal scorer on the USMNT are +1100.
To recap, here are the player props that we like:
Winner/Golden Boot – Argentina/Lionel Messi +3600 FanDuel
Golden Glove – Alisson +440 FanDuel
USA Leading Goal Scorer – Christian Pulisic +275 BetRivers
