European football is back.
If you’re a sports punter, that can only mean one thing: it’s time to get back to serious betting.
But have you ever tried wagering on teams in the USA?
Below is an overview of the major USA tournaments that provide incredible betting opportunities.
Major League Soccer
The US top-tier football league is ranked amongst the top 10 best football leagues in the world.
It consists of 24 teams, although there are plans to expand them to 28 by 2022.
Three of the 24 MLS teams come from Canada, and they also participate in the CONCACAF Champions League.
Like most North American sports leagues, the MLS is divided into the Easter and the Western Conferences.
Although it began in 1993, Major League Soccer only became a 20-team league in 2015.
Four more teams have since then been added and up to six more could be incorporated by 2025.
Contrary to the Premier League, the MLS season begins in March and runs through October.
After that, a playoff campaign launches, with the winner earning the MLS Cup.
With each team playing 34 games in the regular season, the MLS provides nearly as many betting markets as the Premier League (38).
Each team plays a divisional opponent twice, at home and away.
It then faces each of the 12 opponents in the opposite conference once.
The postseason begins in October and comprises 14 teams.
Domestic Cups
Similar to the FA and the Carabao Cups, MLS teams also compete in domestic competitions.
The U.S. Open Cup is the most popular among them.
Launched in 1914, the 97-team tournament is the oldest soccer championship in the USA.
But like the Carabao and the FA, the U.S. Open Cup is dominated by the best teams in the nation’s top-ranking league.
In fact, MLS teams have won the U.S. Open Cup each year since 2000.
A non-MLS side won the competition in 1999, though.
Therefore, when betting, keep in mind that there are rarely any upsets when an in-form MLS team takes on a lower-side club.
Most USL teams also get eliminated in the knockout stages, and very few reach the quarter-finals.
It’s also important to consider that it can be challenging to find crucial data when analyzing the U.S.
Open Cup matches.
With so many newcomers to the competition and so little attention from national media stations, you might be limited to wagering on the favoured teams.
CONCACAF Champions League
If you think the UEFA Champions League is the best football tournament for bettors, you might want to look at the CONCACAF Champions League.
It’s the Americas’ equivalent of UEFA and comprises teams from Canada to Brazil.
From the MLS, five teams participate in the tournament: four US-based franchises and a Canadian soccer team.
Usually, the two MLS conference winners, the MLS Cup winners and the U.S. Open winners, automatically qualify for CONCACAF.
Three teams have reached the CONCACAF finals since 2008, when the tournament introduced a new format.
However, no MLS team has yet to participate in the FIFA Club World Cup.
Nonetheless, MLS teams perform relatively well in the CONCACAF.
At least one MLS team has reached the quarter-finals of the tournament each year since 2008.
Ten teams have reached the semi-finals, and Toronto FC nearly won it but lost to Mexico’s Guadalajara 4-2 on penalties.
Minor Club Competitions
Lately, the MLS features minor club competitions some media organizations call meaningless.
To bettors, these are still football games with every betting market bookies offer.
However, they’re seldom significant and only contended by less than five teams.
The New York Red Bulls and DC United compete for a trophy called the Atlantic Cup.
The Colorado Rapids and the Real Salt Lake FC have a cup named the Rocky Mountain Cup.
The San Jose Earthquakes and the Seattle Sounders compete for the Heritage Cup, while FC Dallas and the Columbus Crew compete for the Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup.
CONCACAF Gold Cup
The CONCACAF Gold Cup is the equivalent of the UEFA Nations League.
It’s contested by national teams spread out in North and Central America.
South American countries like Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay have different national men’s tournaments.
In the Gold Cup, Mexico boasts the most titles, with eight, followed by the US with six trophies.
Canada has also won the tournament once, while Brazil, once invited as a guest nation, finished as runners-up.
Interestingly enough, the Gold Cup attracts plenty of one-sided matches.
From 1991 to 2005, for example, all cup winners defeated their opponents with clean sheets.
Teams have become competitive recently, but it’s not long since the US lost 5-0 and 4-2 to Mexico in the 2009 and 2011 finals.
The World Cup
Every team dreams of winning the World Cup someday.
It’s the most prestigious national men’s competition, after all.
It’s even glamorized on online casinos with slot machines themed after the tournament.
The US Men’s team has been to the tournament severally.
They’ve never won it but completed in third-place back in 1930.
They made it to the World Cup from 1990 to 2014 but were knocked out in the qualifiers by Trinidad and Tobago in 2017.
While the men’s team tends to be lacklustre in the World Cup, the women’s side performs much better.
They’ve won four World Cup tournaments, winning it back to back in 2015 and earlier this year.
If you decide to wager on either of America’s national football teams, consider betting on the female side.
To Conclude
Although overshadowed by European football competitions, the beautiful game is growing fast in the USA.
From the MLS to domestic trophies, national tournaments, and youth football, there are plenty of gambling opportunities in the USA.
League formats in the USA vary from those in Europe and elsewhere in the world, but the game is played the same way everywhere.
On bookie sites, games attract numerous wagers and competitive odds.
And because all top bookmakers provide helpful betting data for USA football, find great betting markets and place your bets.
