World Cup: U.S. Odds for Winning

Suspend disbelief for a moment: Max Bergmann at Association Football lays out six reasons why the United States could actually win the World Cup. Currently a 50-to-1 underdog, the U.S. could be aided by several factors: The cold weather (it's winter in South Africa) will hurt the South American and African teams; the European teams don’t normally perform well far from home; the United States’ draw is favorable, especially because one of the best teams in its half of the draw—Germany—is injury-hampered; also the United States has come relatively close before: “In 2002, the U.S. dominated Germany in the quarterfinals and were a handball away from the semifinals where they would have faced a South Korea team that they had already drawn with. It would have been quite conceivable that the U.S. could have beaten South Korea, finding themselves in the finals against Brazil—we almost assuredly would have lost, but who knows what can happen in 90 minutes. Also, just last year the U.S. in the Confederations’ Cup got to the finals, beat Spain and were 2-0 up on Brazil. The U.S. can play with the world’s best and is capable of pulling off an upset.”