Good Morning ☀️,

It’s Lucas here, your Chief Predictions Officer at What Are the Odds?

If you’re looking out for action across Europe’s top-flight leagues this weekend, then this weekend’s going to a be a little bit quiet. But, if you don’t mind a few international friendlies along with a few Copa Del Rey and Gulf Cup of Nations games sprinkled in, then there’s plenty to keep you entertained (and don’t forget about the UEFA Nations League + African Cup of Nations we previewed earlier this week). So let’s get into it.

What’s ahead in today’s edition of What Are the Odds?:

• This weekend’s Copa Del Rey, Gulf Cup of nations, and International Friendlies match schedule. 🗓️

• Our top three International Friendly picks for the weekend ahead. ✅

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This weekend, we’ve got a mixed bag of matches coming up across the Copa Del Rey and the Gulf Cup of Nations, along with a bunch of International Friendlies. (Note: all dates and times are in CEST)

🌍 International Friendlies

Friday 25 September

• 12:00 — Australia vs Brazil

• 16:00 — India vs Panama

Saturday 26 September

• 22:30 — USA vs Peru

Sunday 27 September

• 01:00 — Canada vs Chile

• 03:00 — Mexico vs Colombia

• 13:35 — China vs New Zealand

• 14:00 — Seychelles vs Sri Lanka

• 18:30 — Malta vs Liechtenstein

🇪🇸 Copa Del Rey

Saturday 26 September

• 18:00 — Anaitasuna FT vs CD Tedeon

• 18:00 — Atletico Calatayud vs CD Baztan

Sunday 27 September

• 16:00 — Ibiza San Rafel vs AE Prat

🌍 Gulf Cup of Nations

Saturday 26 September

• 17:55 — Kuwait vs Iraq

• 20:00 — Oman vs Saudi Arabia

Sunday 27 September

• 17:55 — Yemen vs Qatar

• 20:00 — Bahrain vs UAE

Want to get the best odds on these matches?

⚽ USA vs Peru
🏟️ International Friendlies
📅 Saturday 26 September; 22:30 (CEST)

• Top 3 Stats:

  • Peru only managed 1 goal scored against 5 conceded in 2 games against World Cup-level teams in 2026.

  • Peru conceded in every one of their last 6 matches (11 goals at an average of 1.83 per game)

  • Only 13 of the USA's 28 players went to the World Cup, and 12 have never played a senior international.

• CXSports says: The USA's recent record is probably the least useful in this matchup. Yes, they did score 12 goals in their last 6 matches. And they did score in every single one of them. But there’s a catch. The players who did most of that scoring aren't playing this game. In fact, only 13 of this 28-man squad went to the World Cup, while 12 players on the squad have never even played a senior international match. And, the squad's average age is under 23, which tends to suggest a fairly inexperienced bunch, which probably makes some sense here given that friendlies usually allow near-unlimited substitutions. But it also means that, by the hour mark, this could look like an under-21 game from the USA team. Or, to put all of that into a single sentence — don’t believe the USA's summer form is going to automatically carry over into this game.
  
  Of course, that doesn’t mean the USA are going to rotate themselves into an underdog position here. Unfortunately, Peru is just plain weak by comparison. Over their last 6 matches they've only won once, averaged 1.17 goals per game while conceding 1.83, and they’ve kept zero clean sheets. What’s more, while we might have claimed the USA’s numbers were borderline useless here, they were at least built up against World Cup teams. Peru, on the other hand, built its last-six record against the likes of Honduras, Haiti and Russia. So, for what it’s worth, Peru's numbers aren’t just worse — they’re worse against worse teams. Indeed, in their only two games this past year against proper World Cup-standard competition (Senegal and Spain), Peru lost by an aggregate 5-1. Not great. And, not that it’s really going to make things much worse than they already are, Peru tends to play dismally away from home — across their last four away/neutral-venue games, they’ve got zero wins, one draw and 8 goals conceded.
  
  Finally, while we might discount the USA’s quality here owing to their lack of experience, we also have to apply a disclaimer to Peru’s squad. Simply put, their squad is old by comparison. So who knows, maybe the youthful energy of a roster full of hungry 20-year-olds trying to impress coach is enough to make up for the experience gap.
  
  So where does this leave us? Well, while they don’t score prolifically, Peru does score often enough (5 of their last 6) and the USA concedes often enough (4 of their last 6) that we wouldn’t be surprised if Peru scores here. Particularly given the Americans will probably be playing a little fast and loose. However, given the gulf between these two, we’d still expect to see the USA come out on top, even if we can’t entirely rule out the possibility of Peru sitting deep and holding this one to a draw.

• Score prediction: 2-1 for USA

Bet Option #1

• Bet: USA Victory

• Odds Range: 1.37-1.54

Bet Option #2

• Bet: Over/Under (Over 1.5)

• Odds Range: 1.18-1.27

⚽ Canada vs Chile
🏟️ International Friendlies
📅 Sunday 27 September; 01:00 (CEST)

• Top 3 Stats:

  • Canada’s only lost 1 of their last 5 home games (2W/2D/1L); Chile’s lost 4 of their last 5 away games (1W/0D/4L).

  • Chile scored in 7 straight games, going back to October 2025, while Canada’s missing six regular defenders and their first-choice goalkeeper.

  • Chile conceded 2 or more goals in 4 of their last 5 away games.

• CXSports says: Let’s get straight to the point — Canada looks like the better team here. Albeit, not because of their World Cup summer, which tends to be flattered by that one afternoon against Qatar where they went 6-0. Once we take that result out, Canada’s only scored 4 goals in the other five of their last six — and never more than one goal in any single one of them.
  
  So given that, why are we so confident about Canada? (Okay, we’re not fully confident — but they do look clearly better.) Well, the reason is simple — Chile's away record is miserably. In fact, over the course of their last five away games (two World Cup qualifiers last year and three friendlies since), they’ve only won a single game while losing four times. And, in the process of doing that, they conceded 11 goals (that's 2.2 a game). And, no, that wasn’t a result of playing against heavy competition — their last five includes highlights like a 4-1 loss to New Zealand. So, with a defence like that, a one-goal-a-game team like Canada starts to look like it’s in with a shot of temporarily living the life of a two-goals-a-game team.
  
  With that said, there is a small case to be made for Chile here — Canada's defence (or, rather, lack thereof). Coming into this match, Canada are missing six defenders from their regular pool, with five are injured, including Derek Cornelius, who hurt his hip in training three days before kickoff, while Captain Alphonso Davies and first-choice goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau are away for personal reasons. Meanwhile, for all of its conceding, Chile has at least scored in seven straight games and averaged 2.0 goals over their last six. So the probably should score, although that 2.0 goals cored number does need some heavy discounting — all six of those games were friendlies, against teams like Russia, Peru, Cape Verde and DR Congo. So they don’t really compare with Canada's last six, which were all World Cup matches.
  
  So how does all this play out? Well, Canada looks better here, even though Chile doesn’t look it’s going to be an easy nut to crack. But, presuming Canada can become a two-goal-per-game team here, then we don’t see any reason why they won’t be able to finish this one on top. If they fail to do that, then this one probably ends in a draw.

• Score prediction: 2-1 for Canada

Bet Option #1

• Bet: Canada Victory

• Odds Range: 1.59-1.71

Bet Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (Yes)

• Odds Range: 1.81-1.95

⚽ Mexico vs Colombia
🏟️ International Friendlies
📅 Sunday 27 September; 03:00 (CEST)

• Top 3 Stats:

  • Jiménez and Quiñones, who scored 70% of Mexico's 10 World Cup goals, are missing from the squad for this match.

  • Colombia kept 5 clean sheets in their last 6 matches while only conceding a single goal.

  • Colombia won the last 3 head-to-heads in this fixture (10-4 on aggregate).

• CXSports says: If you check out the market on this game in the lead up, the odds imply these two are standing on an almost equal footing. However, we’re not quite convinced we can trust Mexico’s numbers all that much. While they have indeed scored 2.5 goals per game across their last 6 matches, all six were played in Mexico (and this game’s scheduled for neutral territory). Then, we’ve also got the fact that one of those last 6 was a 5-1 over a Serbian side that sent reserves. And, we’ve also got the fact that the two key strikers who did most of the damage (Raúl Jiménez and Julián Quiñones, who scored 7 of Mexico's 10 goals at this summer's World Cup) are both sitting this one out with injuries. And finally, we’ve also got Rafael Márquez making his debut here managing his first international match, along with a reshuffled squad featuring several other newcomers. In short, the current Mexico squad’s looking nothing like the Mexico from recent months.
  
  As for Colombia, their numbers are a little more useful (they were earned on neutral ground). They've conceded 1 goal in their last 6 matches, an average of 0.17 per game, and kept 5 clean sheets, including a 0-0 with Portugal and 120 goalless minutes against Switzerland. And that’s going to make them a tough nut to crack, particularly for a Mexican squad missing its home advantage plus two key strikers. The head-to-head history also isn’t particularly nice to Mexico. In fact, the last 3 games have all ended in losses for Mexico with an aggregate scoreline of 10-4 (most recently 4-0 last October).
  
  With that said, while Mexico’s looking worse than their numbers suggest and the head-to-head history suggests a big margin, that doesn’t Colombia's going to destroy Mexico here. They’ve still got one big weakness in their attack — they’ve only scored 2 goals in their last 4 matches, and their best-known forward, Luis Díaz, has been rested.
  
  As such, we’re tipping this one leans slightly in Colombia’s favor. On like-for-like numbers, Colombia has the tighter defence, the more stable setup, and the better record in this fixture. Meanwhile, Mexico has a scoring record built up at home by players who aren't here.

• Score prediction: 0-1 for Colombia

Bet Option #1

• Bet: Colombia Victory

• Odds Range: 2.25-2.85

Bet Option #2

• Bet: Over/Under (Under 3.5)

• Odds Range: 1.20-1.31

Make your sportsbook work for you!

That’s a wrap for this week. But we’ll be back next week with plenty more action, including a few more upcoming UEFA Nations League and African Cup of Nations matches.

Until then, enjoy the football.