FOX Sports football analyst Stu Holden claims that Wales are the weakest team in Group B of the upcoming World Cup. The US men’s team is in the group along with Wales, England and Iran.
Speaking on The Athletic’s ‘COPA with Felipe Cárdenas’, Holden said that Wales has not impressed him too much. “Wales have looked good in those games. But I did cover a couple of them,” Holden said. “I wouldn’t say they looked great.”
“And, it’s not a team that I saw and was like, ‘Oh man. This is going to be a tough game for the US.’ Not a knockout, 100% win. But, it’s a game that I think we should go into and hope to win. I think Wales are still the weakest team in the group when you think about it.”
Stu Holden considers Wales the weakest in Group B
The former USMNT midfielder also emphasized the importance of the opening match of the World Cup. The United States plays Wales in their first match of the group stage of the tournament. “That game, I think, decides the fate of America,” Holden said.
“The first game in the World Cup, historically, will tell you if you lose that game, your chances of advancing are, you know it’s day and night. I think it goes from 80% to 10-15%”.
“So it shows you how important that first game is going to be to get even a point, if not a win from that against Wales. And if you win that, I think your chances of passing [the group stage] they are huge.”
Wales is currently ranked 19th in the FIFA world rankings at the moment. This is just a better place than Iran. England and the USMNT, the two favorites to qualify for the knockout stage, are ranked 5th and 16th respectively.
The USMNT and Wales begin their World Cup runs on November 21 at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar.
