Group A contains co-hosts Mexico, South Africa, South Korea and Czech Republic
Mexico vs South Africa is the tournament opener on Thursday evening
South Korea against Czech Republic follows on early on Friday morning
It will be 1,271 days since Argentina won the World Cup by beating France on penalties in Qatar, but the latest instalment of football’s greatest tournament will begin on Thursday, June 11.
Mexico, who are hosting the competition with the USA and Canada, will get the fiesta under way against South Africa and El Tri are 3/4 favourites with LiveScore Bet to come out on top of Group A.
That game takes place at the legendary Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, while the country will also host the second game in the early hours of Friday morning British time, when South Korea lock horns with the Czech Republic in Guadalajara.
Best Bets:
Mexico to beat South Africa @ 4/11
South Korea vs Czech Republic - Draw @ 2/1
Mexico vs South Africa (Thursday, 8pm)
Mexico look well placed to get their World Cup off to a winning start as they come into the tournament in strong form.
As one of the three host nations, they were not required to qualify, but they have still won six of their last eight internationals and will be encouraged that the two games they failed to win in that run were draws against strong European pair Portugal and Belgium.
Those showings against top-class opposition will be of great encouragement as they prepare to face South Africa, who have won just two of the nine games they have played at the World Cup finals.
Bafana Bafana saw off Nigeria to secure their place in this summer’s tournament, but their morale will have taken a jolt by their last-16 exit at the hands of Cameroon in the Africa Cup of Nations.
With two clean sheets in their last nine outings, they could be vulnerable at the back and while these two shared a 1-1 draw in the opening match in Johannesburg 12 years ago, El Tri should come out on top in this one.
Score Prediction: Mexico 1 - 0 South Africa
See the latest Mexico vs South Africa odds on LiveScore Bet
South Korea vs Czech Republic (Friday, 3am)
The tournament stays south of the border for South Korea’s clash against the Czech Republic and the pair look difficult to split in Guadalajara.
The Koreans were the only team to go through two rounds of Asian qualifying without losing a match - they won 11 of their 16 outings - and they will be confident they can make a big impact in what is their 11th successive appearance at the finals.
However, the Czechs have the strength to frustrate their opponents after they made the finals the hard way by beating Ireland and Denmark in the European play-offs.
Although they were surprisingly beaten by the Faroe Islands in qualifying, that is their only defeat in their last eight matches, and they should be able to make their mark.
With Bayer Leverkusen’s Patrik Schick and West Ham’s Tomas Soucek to call upon, Czech Republic look to be a big threat at set-pieces.
Furthermore, former Tottenham star Heung-min Son, who scored 10 goals in Asian qualifying, remains a strong goal threat.
In what is expected to be a cagey affair, these two may not be separated come the final whistle.
Score Prediction: South Korea 1 - 1 Czech Republic
See the latest South Korea vs Czech Republic odds on LiveScore Bet
