{"id":4503,"date":"2026-06-10T20:45:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T20:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=4503"},"modified":"2026-06-10T20:45:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T20:45:01","slug":"2026-world-cup-odds-back-mexico-against-south-africa-in-low-scoring-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=4503","title":{"rendered":"2026 World Cup Odds: Back Mexico Against South Africa in Low-Scoring Match"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            POPULAR SEARCHES\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            BROWSE BY\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Mexico and South Africa open the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Thursday afternoon in what should be an exciting showcase for everything El Tri<i> <\/i>has built so far.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Mexico is the -240 favorite to win, while South Africa is +750. The draw is priced at +340, with the Over\/Under for total goals set at 2.5.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Mexico has dominated CONCACAF over the past few years. Looking at FIFA World Rankings, Mexico has a distinct advantage. It ranks 15th in the world, while South Africa is 60th.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>But from a tactical standpoint, Mexico is in a very dominant position.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14><i>This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about <\/i><i><u>Sports Betting on FOX Sports<\/u><\/i><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>El Tri<i> <\/i>is<i> <\/i>a possession-based team, but it doesn&#8217;t mind conceding possession and defending in a low block. That\u2019s what makes it effective in this match. Not only has Mexico done well in front of net by scoring its chances, but the Mexican squad is also defending at a high level.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>El Tri has conceded just twice in eight unbeaten matches in 2026, including a 5-1 beatdown of Serbia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>This is a South African team that will try to take its chances but lacks quality in front of net.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>I like the Under in this match, and I feel that this being the opening game of the tournament lends itself to an Under.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>With the expanded field, it\u2019s reasonable to expect teams like South Africa to know that, if players can grind out points in the group stage, they have a chance to be one of the third-place teams that advances to the next round.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Every point these teams earn will matter, which likely means a more conservative approach.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>If you want to get creative, parlaying Mexico to win the match with the alternate total of Under 3.5 goals gets the price down to reasonable -130 odds and gives some wiggle room compared to the standard total of 2.5.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Mexico has the good fortune of opening the tournament on its own turf in front of a raucous crowd, giving its players what should be a major home-field advantage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Three points are there for the taking for Mexico, and parlaying it to win with under 3.5 total goals scored is the smart way to play this match.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14><strong>PICK: Parlay of Mexico to win, Under 3.5 total goals scored (-130)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY Mexico and South Africa open the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Thursday afternoon in what should be an exciting showcase for everything El Tri has built so far. Mexico is the -240 favorite to win, while South Africa is +750. The draw is priced at +340, with the Over\/Under for total [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}