Qatar v USA betting tips: Qatar fear semi-final fatigue

In a repeat of the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup final, Matthew Hoppe scored his first international goal, an 83rd-minute header, as the United States beat Jamaica 1-0 to reach the semi-final.

USA are Evens to beat Qatar following their 14th straight success against CONCACAF opponents.

Hoppe, making his second international appearance, nodded home a cross from Cristian Roldan from just inside the six-yard box as the USA eliminated the 45th-ranked Reggae Boyz for the third straight Gold Cup.

In 2017, the USA defeated Jamaica 2-1 in the final and two years later they fell 3-1 in the semi-final.

This will be the 11th straight Gold Cup semi-final for the world-ranked number 20 United States.

Qatar v USA head-to-head

This will be the first meeting between the two teams.

Qatar have certainly been the most entertaining side to watch at the tournament, starting with a 3-3 draw with Panama followed by 4-0 and 2-0 wins over Grenada and Honduras respectively.

They have scored 18 goals in total in their last eight games in all competitions and are 5/2 to score two or more goals in the semi-final in the Qatar v USA betting tips.

Defensively, there is still some work to do as they continue their build-up as host nation for the 2022 World Cup next winter.

USA topped Group B with an unblemished record. The six-time Gold Cup winners are looking to regain their title, having lost it to Mexico in 2019.

They cruised through Group B with defeats of Haiti (1-0), Martinique (6-1) and Canada (1-0), the latter of which was their 38th Gold Cup group stage win, with one loss and four draws. The 90-minute draw odds are 11/5.

Team news

Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Sergino Dest, Zack Steffen and Josh Sargent are among the USA regulars who skipped the tournament to rest ahead of their respective European clubs’ pre-seasons.

Coach Gregg Berhalter has been using an inexperienced squad and against Jamaica he started just three players who see substantial playing time when first-choice players are on hand in Kellyn Acosta, Sebastian Lletget and Paul Arriola.

The USA have won three of their last four games by a single goal and it is 11/2 they win the semi-final 1-0.

Though Qatar have no injury concerns, coach Sanchez is worried about fatigue.

After the win over El Salvador, he said: “Unlike our opponent, who was on rest for four days, there were three days between our last match against Honduras and facing El Salvador and our rest days have been very few since we are at the end of the season.

“The players are tired and despite that we played a great match and everyone resisted this fatigue.”

The Qatar v USA betting tips odds are 10/1 for Qatar to be in front at half-time and fail to win.

Key battles

This boils down to how well Qatar defend and whether their high-powered attack can breach a stingy USA defence.

Offensively, Qatar lean heavily on forward Almoez Ali, whose brace in the quarter-final took him to 34 goals in 66 international appearances.

He has scored a goal in four of Qatar’s last five matches and they will again rely on Ali to propel them to the final. Qatar are 13/2 to win but concede.

USA topped Group B with an unblemished record and after their quarter-final win goalkeeper Matt Turner now has three shutouts in four matches.

It is 6/4 the USA keep a clean sheet and 10/11 that both sides score in the Qatar v USA betting tips.

View the latest Gold Cup odds

All odds and markets correct as of date of publication