On Monday night, the United States and Belgium meet in the Round of 16 in Seattle, and the USMNT just got its biggest boost of the tournament: Star striker Folarin Balogun’s saw his red-card suspension overturned by FIFA.
The decision has come with plenty of scrutiny, but for the United States, it is massive. This already felt like an uphill battle without its No. 9, and now the playing field feels a lot more level.
Both teams came into this tournament on different trajectories, and both have answered some questions while creating new ones. The Americans dominated the group stage outside the Türkiye match, where they rotated most of the squad, and then handled business in the Round of 32.
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Belgium, on the other hand, has underwhelmed.
It opened with draws against Egypt and Iran, and even its Round of 32 win over Senegal required a massive comeback to keep the golden generation World Cup dreams alive.
I like the draw here because both teams have too much talent to easily separate. When two teams are this hard to split, don’t force a side on the money ine. That usually means the value is on the draw at a massive price.
Betting draws has been a cash-cow this tournament, ad I like the +235 price tag for another one on Monday night.
