Vietnam Women's World Cup prediction, odds, pick, how to watch
The USA Women's Soccer team begins their quest for a three-peat in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup starting with their matchup with Vietnam. It is time to continue our Women's World Cup odds series with a USA-Vietnam prediction, pick, and how to watch.
For the United States, they enter the World Cup as the favorites, sitting as the top-ranked team in the world. They have won their last 10 fixtures, including friendlies, qualifying, and the SheBelieves Cups. They did have a rough patch back in October of 2022. The USA lost three straight friendlies for the first time since the early 1990s but has rebounded nicely.
In World Cup play, they have never finished worse than third, which has happened three times, but not since 2007. They also have one runner-up finish and three wins. The last time they did not win a game at the World Cup was in 2015 when they had a 0-0 draw in the group stage with Sweden. The last time they lost it was in 2011 in the finals via penalty kicks. It was also that year that the USA fell for the last time at the World Cup in regulation, 2-1 to Sweden in the group stage.
Vietnam enters the world cup ranked 32nd in the world. They will be making their debut at the Women's World Cup in this match, never having played here before. It could be a difficult proposition for Vietnam to make any noise in these games. Their group not only featured the defending champions in the USA, but also the 2019 runner-up in the Netherlands. The other team in the group, Portugal, is ranked 21st in the world currently and is also making its first appearance at the World Cup. Vietnam comes into their match losing their last three friendlies, all to top competition. They scored just one goal in those games while giving up 13.
Here are the FIFA Women's World Cup Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
FIFA Women's World Cup Odds: USA-Vietnam Odds
USA: -20000
Vietnam: +7000
Draw: +10000
Over 6.5 Goals: -112
Under 6.5 Goals: -112
Both Teams to Score – Yes: +320
Both Teams to Score- No: -460
How To Watch USA vs. Vietnam
TV: FOX
Stream: FOX Sports
Time: 9:00 PM ET/ 6:00 PM PT
*Watch FIFA Women's World Cup LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why USA Will Beat Vietnam
The USA squad is loaded with talent, including some of the best players in the world. That starts with Sophia Smith. Smith is part of the new generation of players taking over for the USWNT as Alex Morgan is 34, and Megan Rapinoe calls it a career after this World Cup and her club team season. She moves from her traditional striker spot to a winder for the US team, but she is a great finish with top-quality ball-striking ability. In NWSL play, Smith has ten goals in 13 games, to lead the league. In friendlies in 2022, she scored nine times in nine starts, while scoring twice in CONCACAF play.
The offense would not be complete Alex Morgan. Morgan is getting ready to play in her fourth World Cup, as she looks to lead the squad to their third straight World Cup title. The strikers have been so good for the team, that other stars such as Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman are pushed to the wings to make room for Morgan. In World Cup play she scored six goals in 2019 while also grabbing three assists. She also had a goal in 2015, and two in 2011 coming off the bench. With nine career World Cup goals, she needs two in this competition to give her self a tie for a top-five spot in history. With six goals, she will pass Abby Wambach for the most of all time and will be two behind Marta for the most ever.
The defense is led by Alana Cook. Cook has been great in NWSL Play this year, ranking second in the competition with 31 interceptions. She is also extremely aggressive, winning 68.6 percent of her duels this year, which ranks her fourth in the NWSL. She joined the National team in 2019 and has been a presence since. Her ability to pick off passes and beat defenders to the ball is sure to shut down many of the top attacks in the world.
Why Vietnam Will Beat USA
Making the pick of Vietname to upset the USA would be one of the biggest upsets of all time. Led by their 72-year-old coach, Mai Duc Chung, this roster is comepting to the World Cup for the first time. Of the 23 players on the rosters, 22 of them play their club soccer in Vietnam. The lone exception is Huynh Nhu. Nhu is the all-time leading scorer for the Vietnam Women's Soccer team with 71 goals in international play. She is the first ever player for Vietnam to play outside of Asia, playing in Liga BPI.
Alongside, her is Pham Hai Yen. In the 2011 AFF Women's Championship, she scored her first career hat trick, scoring three goals in the game over Indonesia. Since then she has scored plenty of more hat tricks and won multiple titles. She was part of a team that won that AFF Championship, plus won a Simple Cup and the SEA games.
On the defensive end there is Hoang Thi Loan. She is a technically sound defender who can control the tempo of the game. Loan is one of the best on the team when it comes to winning the ball from the other team, and she is the best tackler on the squad. She controls the tempo through her vision. When she sees an opportunity to push the ball on the counter, she will do it. When she does not, Loan is more than happy to possess the ball and try to win a slower pace game.
Final USA-Vietnam Prediction & Pick
As noted, if the USA lost it would be the upset of the century. Still, taking them at -20000 is something almost no one is going to do. It would take a $200 bet to just win one dollar. The odds in this USA-Vietname match do not support making that play. The pick for the USA-Vietnam game may come down to a parlay. Taking the USA to win, with an over 4.5 and a no bet on both teams to score gets the odds to -190. Switching that out to an over 5.5 makes it -118. With this being the opening game of the World Cup, taking over 6.5 may be risky. They could easily play a possession game to conserve some energy. The US squad may try to end this one early. The Over for the first half of 2.5 could also be a play at -148. The prediction for this USA-Vietnam contest is a 6-0 win for the USA.
Final USA-Vietnam Prediction & Pick: USA (-20000) and Under 6.5 (-112)
