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The USMNT will kick off their 2022 World Cup campaign Monday against Wales in Group B. The Americans are back in the competition for the first time since 2014, and the main goal is to get out of the group stage. Wales have a talented squad headlined by Gareth Bale but DraftKings Sportsbook does list USMNT as the favorites in this contest.
According to Sam Borden, this match will be officiated by a Qatari crew with referee Abdulrahman Al-Jassim leading the way. He has previously officiated USA matches and did some Qatari league games this year.
NEW: A Qatari crew led by referee Abdulrahman Al Jassim will handle #USAWAL on Monday. Al Jassim has actually refereed the #USMNT before: he worked at the 2019 Gold Cup as part of an exchange program and did USA 1:0 PAN. In 4 Qatari League matches this year, he's given 20 cards.
— Sam Borden (@SamBorden) November 20, 2022
20 cards over four games, which comes out to five cards per game, is a lot. However, we’re not exactly privy to how these Qatari league games operate and things might get chippy quickly. Once you have a few cards, things can spiral out of control. The 2010 World Cup final featured 14 yellow cards and one red card, so it’s possible these cards mostly came in one match.
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the line for total cards is set at 3.5. It might be smart to take the over given this referee’s history.