Great Britain will play the USA in the World Baseball Classic on Saturday, March 7, in Houston, Texas. The game will start at 8 p.m. ET and can be streamed live on FOX.
The USA is a -4000 Moneyline favorite and an -8.5 (-110) run line favorite. The total is set at 14.5.
Here's my Great Britain vs USA prediction and World Baseball Classic picks for March 7, 2026.
Great Britain vs USA Prediction
- My Pick: Great Britain +8.5
My Great Britain vs USA best bet is on Great Britain to cover.
Great Britain vs USA Odds
| Great Britain Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+8.5 -110 | 14.5 -155 | +1500 |
| United States Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-8.5 -110 | 14.5 +125 | -4000 |
- Great Britain vs USA Moneyline: Great Britain +1500, USA -4000
- Great Britain vs USA Run Line: Great Britain +8.5 (-110), USA -8.5 (-110)
- Great Britain vs USA Total: 14.5 (-155 / +125)
Great Britain vs USA World Baseball Classic Picks
Great Britain Betting Preview
It should be said that Great Britain had a strong showing in its World Baseball Classic opener.
Sure, you may fight me on that, considering they fell to Mexico by a score of 8-2. But this scrappy team that took out Colombia in its first-ever WBC a few years ago and played both the USA and Mexico close was once again tough to put away.
The Brits were out-hitting the Mexicans 6-2 in the eighth inning of a 1-1 game, and one bad pitch from reliever Tristan Beck — brought in with two on and two out — proved to be too much to overcome.
Up until that point, we saw this slew of British pitchers perform pretty well — and we only saw half of the 14 selected for the team. Great Britain boasts a large stable of arms, but it seemed after pressing all the right buttons through seven and a half innings that Brad Marcelino eventually found a landmine.
Pitching will be an obvious concern for Great Britain heading into a matchup with one of the best offenses in the tournament, but it did manage to survive against Team USA a few years ago. A couple of the same names that worked in that one, like Vance Worley, Ryan Long, and Dylan Covey, are back for their second classic.
While there's been no announcement regarding a starter, the chances are that Worley — who started the loss against Team USA in 2023 and allowed two unearned runs through 2 2/3 innings with three hits and three walks — will get the ball for some extended run as the team's best pitcher. The 38-year-old hasn't pitched in the big leagues since 2017, and hasn't even pitched in any organized ball since the last World Baseball Classic.
Your guess is as good as mine as far as how effective he'll be, but this is the nature of the WBC — you just never know who will give you a surprisingly strong performance.
Speaking of which, I really like this offense.
Managing 13 baserunners against a pretty strong lineup of pitching from Mexico is a feat that should not be ignored, and that goes double when you consider Jazz Chisholm and Nate Eaton — the top two names in the lineup — went 0-for-10.
The first run — and the one which was the biggest in the game, which brought it level at 1-1 for an inning and a half — came off the bat of WBC legend Harry Ford.
The catching prospect, now with the Nationals, hit .308 in four games last Classic with two home runs, a double, and four RBIs, and he went 2-for-3 with the homer and a walk versus Mexico on Friday. There appear to be no signs of him slowing down in this event.
After him, there are some interesting young talents like Kristian Robinson and BJ Murray who put together some good at-bats.
There's really not much else to say, other than the gloves looked pretty good for Great Britain as well.
Trayce Thompson, now 35, made a great catch in right to keep the score level at 1-1, and the team didn't commit an error, which was something that hurt it in 2023. I also have no idea who Ian Lewis, Jr. is — allegedly, he's a 23-year-old in High-A with the Marlins — but he looked the part of a competent, even above-average, shortstop in the field.
USA Betting Preview
I wrote far more about the British team here, because I think you know the drill with Team USA.
This offense is unquestionably strong on paper, and there's not much we really learned from the win over Brazil.
The Americans walked 17 times in that one and added 10 hits for good measure, but it wasn't as if the team's big boppers up top did anything other than an early Aaron Judge.
We probably learned a bit more about the pitching, and that should be the focus of Saturday's tilt.
Tarik Skubal will be taking the ball, and once again, you may know the drill with him as well.
His reluctance to push his arm in the World Baseball Classic was well-documented, and it's already been confirmed that he will throw around 55 pitches in this game before returning to Spring Training with the Tigers. The lefty is inarguably one of the two best pitchers in the world and possesses incredible strikeout upside. This could be a big deal considering the Brits struck out just six times against Mexico up until the game was effectively over in the ninth, and Andres Munoz came in to punch two out.
Great Britain's best hitter, Jazz Chisholm, is also left-handed and 0-for-3 against Skubal in his career with a .142 Expected Batting Average, and as the leadoff man, there's a good chance he will face the flamethrower twice.
Other than that, there aren't a ton of left-handed bats of note for Great Britain, but one thing that's kind of interesting is that Team USA lacks lefties. It's got Gabe Speier and Garrett Cleavinger as pretty trustworthy bullpen options, but after that, Mark DeRosa probably won't love using the recently retired Clayton Kershaw or Ryan Yarbrough (who stinks). Matthew Boyd is very good, but I suspect he'll be preserved for a long appearance in a bigger game or even a start.
The guys who did pitch against Brazil didn't exactly light it up.
Logan Webb was fine, but did give up a leadoff home run, and the following two pitchers — Speier and Michael Wacha — each surrendered one as well. You love a 16-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, but this is a Brazilian team bereft of big-league talent, and it still managed five runs on six hits.
Great Britain will pose a bigger threat.
How To Bet My Great Britain vs USA Pick
The US has the strongest team in the pool on both sides of the ball by a wide margin, and something would have to go very wrong for it to lose.
I think we can bet on Great Britain making some noise offensively, even in a game started by Skubal, because this bullpen just doesn't really do it for me in the middle innings.
The Americans have some strong late-inning options, but the Mexicans did as well, and it didn't stop the Brits from creating run-scoring opportunities.
With the way Brazil was able to make a little bit happen offensively and Team USA's lack of offensive dominance until the final inning, I don't exactly see this as a runaway victory for the Americans.
The Brits should hit the ball, so getting 8.5 runs feels like an excellent deal.
Pick: Great Britain +8.5
