Another round of FIFA World Cup qualifying matches returns Wednesday on the CONCACAF landscape. The entire field of eight nations is in action, with the teams playing their final games during this international window.
There's plenty on the line for these countries, with the lone goal of reaching the 2022 tournament in Qatar staring them in their faces.
Soccer analysts Ian Quillen and Jeremy Pond have you covered with their two-leg parlay, focusing on showdowns featuring the United States vs. Costa Rica and Canada vs. Panama on the interesting card.
Check out their betting insight and the price they're getting on the parlay at DraftKings ahead of the latest fixtures.
USA vs. Costa Rica
| USA Odds | -215 |
| Costa Rica Odds | +550 |
| Draw | +310 |
| Over/Under | 2.5 (+110 / -140) |
| Day | Time | Wednesday | 7 p.m. ET |
| How To Watch | ESPN2 | UniMás | fuboTV |
| Odds via DraftKings. Get up-to-the-minute Soccer odds here | |
Jeremy Pond: This might be the most important match the Americans have in the first half of the World Cup qualifying slate following their ugly 1-0 loss at Panama this past weekend.
Manager Gregg Berhalter's men defined lackluster in defeat, which kept them on eight points and dropped them into a tie for second-place with their upstart Panamanian foes in the eight-team table. Now, the United States catches a familiar foe in Costa Rica coming off a 2-1 win over El Salvador.
The plus for the Americans, though? Los Ticos have been miserable on the road of late as well, going winless in their last nine away from home that's good for an 0-5-4 (W-L-D) record. And that doesn't bode well facing a red, white and blue outfit that's unbeaten in its last 16 matches on American soil.
That said, I'm backing the total to stay under 2.5 goals at -140 odds via DraftKings as my top selection in the opening leg of this parlay. Four of the last five confrontations between these sides have finished under 2.5 goals, with the outlier being a 4-0 win by the Americans in a June friendly. And honestly, I'm just tossing that game since friendlies feature pretty meaningless results.
These nations have played a combined 10 matches in the Octagonal so far, with a whopping eight of them finishing with two goals or less. That's enough for me to feel optimistic we get another low-scoring affair following that trend.
Pond's Pick:Total Under 2.5 Goals (-140)
Canada vs. Panama Odds
| Canada Odds | -175 |
| Panama Odds | +500 |
| Draw | +260 |
| Over/Under | 2.5 (+140 / -185) |
| Day | Time | Wednesday | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| How To Watch | Paramount+ |
| Odds via DraftKings. Get up-to-the-minute Soccer odds here. | |
Ian Quillen: Canada wasn't particularly impressive in its home Octagonal opener against Honduras. The Canadians romp past El Salvador in Toronto two games later reeked of an opponent without depth hitting the wall from a third game in seven days.
Panama has a more fully formed roster and better identity than either of those foes. And without injured Cyle Larin, plus Lucas Cavallini, Canada’s depth advantage is less than you might think.
I’m not saying Canada can’t win. However, so far, the team is also behaving like a quintessential mid-table team that excels as an underdog and can struggle as a favorite.
Manager John Herdman’s game plans against Mexico and the United States in away draws were excellent. They were also fairly obvious. Trying to solve a Panamanian side with arguably the second-most accomplished manager in the region in Thomas Christiansen will be more complicated.
Los Canaleros will be plenty happy with a point, and they’ve proven they can score on any CONCACAF defense, let alone a back line that is Canada’s weakness.
You could play both teams to score here at +145 odds, but the draw at +260 odds with an implied 27.8% probability is obvious value.
Need more convincing? These two teams have settled for a point in five of their previous 10 combined Octagonal matches so far.
Quillen's Pick: Draw (+260)
Pond & Quillen Parlay
United States vs. Costa Rica — Total Under 2.5 Goals (-140) & Canada vs. Panama — Draw (+260) at +517 odds via DraftKings.
