United States vs. Costa Rica odds, predictions: Gold Cup best bets, picks Sunday

The U.S.Men’s National Team took the first step toward getting back on track at the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.The Yanks went 3-0-0 with a plus-seven goal difference (eight goals for, one goal against) against Trinidad & Tobago, Saudi Arabia and Haiti.That’s not exactly a murderers’ row.

Still, you can only play the team in front of you, and considering the state of Team USA — on and off the pitch — before the tournament, it is encouraging to see the Stars & Stripes get through to the quarterfinals without any strife.The Americans now set their sights on Costa Rica on Sunday night.Team USA is a -400 favorite to advance and is currently sitting at -190 odds to win the match inside 90 minutes.This looks like a mismatch on paper. The Americans, even without many of their top players, should be able to roll over Los Ticos. Like any team in CONCACAF, Costa Rica won’t shy away from turning this into a physical, whistle-filled grind, recognizing that that’s their best path to success.Team USA will be desperate to avoid having this match turn into a rock fight, and the best way to do that is to get on the board early. An early goal by the Americans will force Costa Rica to come out of its shell, which would be a massive boost for Team USA’s chances of winning this match.Against previous iterations of Costa Rica, the job of getting on the board early and overrunning them was easier said than done, but this version of Los Ticos is showing to be quite vulnerable defensively.Suriname scored three goals and created 1.4 expected goals on seven shots on target against Costa Rica, while the Dominican Republic created 1.6 xG in their match with Los Ticos.Costa Rica did hold Mexico in a nil-nil draw, but El Tri dominated that match with 70 percent possession, 1.8 expected goals and 15 total shots.The Americans should be on the front foot from the beginning in this match, and I like their chances of opening up this match and making it uncomfortable for Costa Ri...