USA v Australia: Back Stars & Stripes in 6/1 Bet Builder in Seattle

Flying USA to have too much in Seattle

Click here for USA v Australia odds
Friday 19 June, 20:00 kick-off
Group D - Lumen Field, Seattle
Live on BBC One

These two both made flying starts to the tournament, the USA beating an admittedly pretty poor Paraguay side 4-1 and Australia quietly pulling off a sizeable shock when beating Turkey 2-0.

The hosts are big 6/101.60 favourites in Seattle, which is one of the loudest stadiums in the United States, with Australia 4/15.00 outsiders as they may find it hard to replicate the result against Turkey with a similar performance.

Just 28% possession was turned into two goals from four shots on target - it's hard to pull off the same trick twice against a USA side that will go full throttle like a Mauricio Pochettino side usually does.

They're comfortable in their surroundings now after 19 straight games at home in the United States (W11 L6 D2) while they've won seven on the spin in Seattle - but Australia rather surprisingly have now won three of their past four at the World Cup.

And the Socceroos will be tough to break down - they've kept six clean sheets in their last nine wins and even in defeat eight of their last 10 losses have just been by the odd goal, so they'll be nowhere near as wide open as Paraguay.

It's hard to argue with this energetic USA side though, with eight of nine seeing both teams score and seven of eight going over 2.5 goals. Both teams to score is 1/12.00 and over 2.5 goals is 20/231.87 and both seem likely the way the hosts have gone about their business.

Back 6/17.00 USA Bet Builder special

Folarin Balogun bagged a brace against Paraguay and could've had another as well - so he's 7/52.40 anytime scorer favorite as the biggest goal threat on the pitch.

Malik Tillman saw plenty of action against Paraguay, hitting the target twice from his five attempts so it'd be no surprise to see him score this time at 11/43.75.

Australia did keep a clean sheet but sitting back so much they allowed 30 shots from Turkey, who could only get eight on target, and the energy the USA bring they should be able to get a few efforts in on goal - at least matching the six they had against Paraguay, which is 1/12.00 here.

Balogun was everywhere against Paraguay and although Australia will zero in on him we can fully expect him to get at least a couple of shots in on target, which is priced up at 11/102.11.

Both sides gave away plenty of fouls in their last game, but the USA just pipped Australia surprisingly, given the difference in possession, so even though the hosts will dominate the ball there's still plenty of chances for fouls.

They'll mainly come on the break so for that reason defender Chris Richards looks a solid bet at 11/102.11 for 2+ fouls as he'll likely have to deal with counter attacks dealing with one on ones and fast breaks - and with three fouls in the opening game we know he's liable to give away a few.

Notable winners on Betting.Betfair so far at the 2026 World Cup...

- Mark Stinchcombe's stunning 38/139.00 Bet Builder in South Korea v Czechia
- Paul Higham's 9/25.50 Bet Builder in Mexico's MD1 defeat of South Africa
- Paul also tipped 13/53.60 (Canada v Bosnia) & 15/82.88 (Brazil v Morocco) draws
- A 6/17.00 winning ACCA for Mark on Sunday at the World Cup
- Andy Robson's 9/110.00 five-leg ACCA as Germany wallop Curacao
- A 13/53.60 winner for Paul as France beat Senegal with both teams scoring
- Paul's at it again, an 11/43.75 winning Best Bet in Switzerland v Bosnia
- An 11/26.50 winner for Jimmy The Punt as Jonathan David scores twice

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