Prediction: South Korea vs Mexico

Prediction: Mexico win

Best Odds: 7/10

Bookmaker: bet365

Coming into the World Cup we were always expecting there to be a handful of surprises and for the most part, this year’s tournament has delivered thus far. We’ve seen entertaining games, last-minute drama and plenty of upsets, and the best part is that we aren’t even halfway through the festivities yet. One team who have been responsible for one of the biggest moments of the WC thus far is Mexico, and they’ll be back in action tomorrow when they go head to head with 2002 semi-finalists South Korea.

South Korea

While having a lot of heart and determination will often get you quite far in this game, it doesn’t feel like South Korea have what it takes to make it beyond the group stage this time around. They certainly have talented individuals but they don’t really compare to some of the other top Asian sides such as Japan, and we saw that play out during their opener against Sweden. The Europeans weren’t all that much better than South Korea, and yet they were able to neutralise them pretty effectively.

Team News

Jo Hyeonwoo performed well against Sweden and will likely keep his place in the starting line-up. Aside from that, the South Koreans have a full squad to choose from.

Mexico

Four years ago at the 2014 edition of the World Cup, Mexico barely scraped through qualifying before exceeding all expectations to reach the knockout stages. This time around they had a really strong qualifying campaign, and on top of that, they kicked off their run in the finals by defeating reigning champions Germany. They showed a level of commitment and determination that we haven’t seen from them in a very long time, and they could easily be this year’s dark horse for a run to the quarter-finals and maybe beyond.

Team News

A flu bug reportedly impacted the Mexicans during their opener, but it seems as if they could still stick with the same starting XI in an attempt to maintain consistency.

Factors to Consider

• Mexico lead 6-4 in the head to head, with one draw back in 1999.
• South Korea have won one, drawn one and lost four of their last six games.
• Mexico have won three, drawn one and lost two of their last six games.
• South Korea’s final group game will be against Germany on Wednesday.
• Mexico’s final group stage will be against Sweden on Wednesday.

Conclusion

While a victory over the reigning world champions will always give you a lot of momentum heading into your second game, this World Cup has been a strange one – and we don’t think it’ll lead to Mexico blowing South Korea out of the water. Many teams have struggled to find their rhythm in the early stages, even after a strong performance in their first game. We actually think the Mexicans will struggle, but they’ll still come away with a narrow 2-1 win to leave them on the verge of reaching the last 16.

Prediction: Mexico win

Best Odds: 7/10

Bookmaker: bet365