Best Women’s World Cup Bets: USA-Vietnam Predictions and Odds (July 21)

The United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) gets its 2023 World Cup campaign underway on Friday night with a group stage faceoff against Vietnam. It is the Americans first ever competitive match against Vietnam, but its recent 22-match unbeaten run against Asian Football Confederation (AFC) sides alludes to how this match will play out. On top of that, the USWNT has won every single one of its openers at the Women’s World Cup, outscoring its opponents 32-9 across nine matches. With all due respect to Vietnam, this match probably will not be close, but it will say a lot about just how sharp the USWNT is ahead of some more decisive group stage fixtures. In turn, let’s dive right into USA-Vietnam predictions and bets for its first match in the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

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Women’s World Cup Odds: USA-Vietnam Odds

USA-Vietnam Prediction

Once again, the moneyline odds speak for themselves. The USWNT is a 6.5-goal favorite and has an implied win probability on Friday of 99.5%. If Vlatko Andonovski’s side plays as ruthlessly as it is capable of, this one could get messy. It was only four years ago that the USWNT beat Thailand 13-0 in its first match of the 2019 World Cup in France.

This is no slight to Vietnam either. Mai Duc Chung is an extremely seasoned manager who led his country to its first ever berth through a challenging qualifying path. A singular draw against Myanmar in the Women’s Asian Cup saw Vietnam through to the quarterfinals, where it lost to China. Then it was put through to the playoffs where it took down Thailand and Chinese Taipei to qualify for the 2023 World Cup.

Being dealt USA and the Netherlands in the group stage was not a great draw for Vietnam, but it has nothing to lose and a realistic goal is to find the back of the net in this one. It did manage to bag a goal against Germany in June, so anything can happen.

Conversely, the Americans will probably want to make a serious statement. Their warmup matches in the buildup to this World Cup have not been overly spectacular despite a nine-match win streak. Moreover, everyone seems to be talking about how this could be the end of their two-cycle reign as World Cup Champions.

The U.S. has too many injuries. It is missing its captain. It has too many first-timers at the World Cup. That seems like bulletin board material for a group of serial winners, including Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, who will surely be setting a stern tone.

From a betting perspective, this match is all about how many goals the USWNT can score. Most likely, it will start a trident up front with Sophia Smith, Alex Morgan and Trinity Rodman, who each are top-10 favorites for the 2023 Golden Boot. For most sides, these three are unguardable, and that statement cannot be emphatic enough against a leaky Vietnam defense. In fact, it has been outscored 18-1 in its last three matches against non-AFC opponents, most recently against Spain in a 9-0 route just days before this tournament.

In turn, the best play is to bet the goal market heavily in this one, as Vietnam could also contribute to the total. Additionally, ride with Smith to score two or more goals at -115. This World Cup is Smith’s arrival on the big stage, and Vietnam is a great match to at least bag a brace.

Final USA-Vietnam Prediction: Over 6.5 Total Goals (+100, DraftKings)

Sophia Smith to Score a Brace (-115, DraftKings)