World Cup Predictions for 6/11/26

Mexico vs South Africa 

Kick-Off: 3PM ET 

 

The opening game of the 2026 World Cup harkens back to the opening game of the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg as South Africa hosted Mexico. This time, they’ll face off in Mexico City at the historic Estadio Azteca. Mexico are listed as huge -240 favorites in the game while the total is set at 2.5 goals. 

 

Overall, I think this tournament is set up for Mexico to return to form and make a run starting with this game. Assuming they win their group, which they are favored to do, they won’t have to leave Mexico for a match until a potential Round of 16 game in Miami. 

 

This isn’t a Mexico side we are accustomed to seeing, but they will feed off their home field advantage and I expect them to make a lot of noise in this tournament. They’re very well put together in the back defensively and I’m not expecting South Africa to have much success on the attack in this game. One thing I want to watch out for is if Julian Quinones cracks the starting lineup for El Tri. He is coming off a massive season in Saudi Arabia leading the league in goals and he can do a lot of them as a creator when he’s on the pitch. 

 

Overall, I’m expecting Mexico to stay in good form and earn three points here. They’ve won each of their last three friendlies outscoring opponents by seven over that stretch. 

 

Prediction: Mexico 2, South Africa 0

 

Czechia vs South Korea 

Kick-Off: 10:00PM ET 

 

Our second game of the tournament is slated to kick-off seven hours after the first, as South Korea and Czechia meet in Zapopan Mexico. South Korea comes in as the favorite listed at +165 odds while the total is set at 2.5 goals. 

 

This is expected to be a very tight group, and this opening game could be extremely critical for each of these teams in their hopes to move onto the round of 32. With the stakes in this game already massive, and the high altitude likely taking its toll, I’m expecting a low scoring, nervy affair between these two sides. One goal may be enough to avoid defeat. These teams play conflicting styles as well, South Korea has operated as a possession-heavy team while Czechia is more physical and will do a lot of their damage from set pieces targeting their star Patrik Schick. He and one of my favorite players ever, Son Heung-Min are the two big names to watch in this contest. This is likely Son’s last World Cup so I’m expecting a motivated effort from him as he approaches the title of South Korea’s all-time leading goal scorer. He will truly do it all for this team and if South Korea finds the back of the net tonight it is likely that he’s involved in some capacity. 

 

Prediction: South Korea 1, Czechia 0