USA vs. El Salvador World Cup qualifying soccer odds: American star Christian Pulisic to miss Thursday's opening match

The United States men's soccer team embarrassingly didn't qualify for the 2018 World Cup – first time missing out on the world's biggest sporting event since 1986 – and will begin the CONCACAF octagonal qualifying for the 2022 tournament Thursday night when it visits El Salvador. The USA is a -200 favorite at Caesars Sportsbook despite the fact the country's best player, Christian Pulisic, will miss the match. El Salvador is +500 to win and a draw is +275. Stream the match on Paramount+.

Not long ago, the 22-year-old Pulisic tested positive for COVID and missed two matches for his English Premier League side Chelsea. While he resumed training with Team USA on Monday and is clear of protocols, he didn't fly with the club to El Salvador. The U.S. is playing three qualifiers in seven days, so coach Gregg Berhalter wanted to ensure Pulisic was in top condition for matches Saturday vs. Canada and next Wednesday vs. Honduras. Those figure to be more challenging opponents.

The United States owns an 18-1-5 all-time record and 17-match winning against El Salvador, outscoring the Salvadorans, 60-15. The lone win for El Salvador was a 2-0 friendly at home in February 1992. The sides haven't met in World Cup qualifying since 2009 but did meet in a 2020 friendly in Florida and the USA rolled 6-0. 

Pulisic had six goals in the 2018 qualifying cycle, which ties him for seventh with Michael Bradley on Team USA's all-time World Cup qualifying goal scoring list. Pulisic is fourth in all-time qualifying assists with six. Thursday's match is five years to the day that Pulisic, then 17, became the youngest USA men's player to score in qualifying as he had two goals in a 6-0 win at St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Sept. 2, 2016.

El Salvador hasn't qualified for the World Cup since 1982. Its manager is Hugo Perez, who played for Team USA at the 1994 World Cup. Perez scored 13 goals in 73 international matches for the Americans. He was born in El Salvador but is a U.S. citizen.

After this quick three-match spurt, qualifying for the Americans doesn't resume until Oct. 7 with all teams in the octagonal playing 14 total games for a spot in Qatar next year. The past six CONCACAF World Cup qualification tournaments featured six teams playing 10 matches each but because qualifying was wiped out last year due to COVID, this time it's eight teams playing 14 matches each of round-robin home-and-away. The top three finishers from CONCACAF get automatic berths in the World Cup and the fourth-place team competes in an international playoff.

Team USA is No. 10 in the FIFA world rankings and El Salvador No. 64. The Over/Under for Thursday's match is 2.5 goals. Both teams to score is +105. 

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