It’s not like France is a massive underdog for Friday’s World Cup quarterfinal against the United States. As of early Thursday morning, online bookmaker Pinnacle had set the hosts’ odds of advancement at +139, an implied probability of about 42 percent. But still, a cheeky French reporter ran a somewhat novel idea past a few U.S. players during a news conference this week: Maybe the three-time World Cup champion Americans simply could “let” the French win.
Obviously, Team USA isn’t about to concede victory, but the Americans still will have their hands full Friday with a team that hasn’t lost an international match since February.