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People are asking how the USA can advance to the next round at this year's World Cup. That job just got a little bit easier with England's draw against Algeria where neither team scored any goals. All teams in Group C are in contention to advance but Slovenia, which gave up a two goal lead versus the USA earlier, still leads the pack.
Bookmaker.com still had England with single digit odds to win the FIFA 2010 World Cup at +700, which would pay out US$70 for every US$10 bet. Team USA would pay US$370 for every US$10 bet. Slovenia, which is looking better than many of its more favored European counterparts, would pay out a whopping US$2000 for every US$10 bet if they were to win the 2010 World Cup. Considering the small risk, this bet certainly has some value.
But as far as how the USA team can advance to the knockout stage of this year's World Cup, there are two ways this can happen.
1) The United States would advance with a victory over Algeria, which would give it five points. Because England plays Slovenia, one of those teams can't finish with five. This seems like a very strong scenario considering USA showed they are more than capable of scoring goals and, some would argue, got three in as opposed to two.
2) The United States would advance with a draw against Algeria, which would give it three points, as long as England loses to Slovenia OR England-Slovenia ends in a draw AND the U.S. maintains a goal advantage over England. Currently, the U.S. has three goals and England has one. This scenario requires a gift from England, which could happen but the better scenario is one where Team USA holds the key to their advancing.
One scenario could lead to lots being drawn for who advances.
If the U.S. draws with Algeria and England draws with Slovenia, but England scores two more goals than the U.S. does in its last game, the U.S. and England would be even on all tiebreakers for second place.
Ean Lamb, Gambling911.com
