Australia vs Egypt – 0–1

I don't see Australia having much of a chance here. Egypt looks like the stronger and more solid team to me. I expect a low-scoring match. Egypt will score once and then sit back. Australia doesn't have enough attacking quality to dictate the game.

My predictions:

• Egypt Draw No Bet (AH 0) – 1.59
• Egypt Over 3.5 Corners – 1.43
• Egypt Over 3 Shots on Target – 1.44

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Argentina vs Cape Verde – 2–0

This is the kind of match where neither a straight home win nor a handicap feels like a lock. I think Argentina will follow the same approach they used against Austria. They'll score to make it 1–0, then Messi will take it easy for a while before producing one burst of brilliance to score the second. Then the newspapers will be full of headlines like: "Only Messi can score for Vozinye."

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Spain vs Austria — 2:0

It's quite possible that Austria will cover the +2 handicap, but one thing that stands out is that they concede in every match. To be honest, I've watched them play and I'm not impressed. To me, they resemble Switzerland in terms of style. That's enough to get out of the group, but I think that's as far as they'll go.

Spain have had their own shaky moments too. I'll leave the Cape Verde match aside—that felt more like promoting smaller football nations and sending the message that "if Cape Verde can do it, why can't you?" It also helped justify expanding the tournament to include teams that spend 90 minutes defending with their entire squad inside the penalty area.

Spain usually perform better against teams like Austria because they don't sit as deep, leaving spaces that Spain can exploit with precise passing. I understand those backing Austria who point out Spain struggled against Uruguay, but that game was probably all about managing the result. I also expect this one to be fairly pragmatic. Spain will dominate possession as usual and complete hundreds of passes, while Austria will likely play according to the scoreline, hoping their forwards can make the most of limited opportunities.

England — Congo 3:0

On one hand, these are the kind of matches where 95% of bets go one way. What the hell is Congo or Paraguay supposed to do here — usually it ends 3:0, 4:0, a total demolition. On the other hand, it’s the World Cup, a place where miracles sometimes happen.

Congo have actually done well: a draw with Portugal, a narrow 0:1 loss to Colombia, and a win over Uzbekistan. I think they’re already satisfied with their tournament. By the way, this country used to be called Zaire:

Free State of the Congo (1885–1908)
Belgian Congo (1908–1960)
Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville) (1960–1964)
Democratic Republic of the Congo (1964–1971)
Republic of Zaire (1971–1997)
Democratic Republic of the Congo (since 1997)

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Ivory Coast vs Norway — 1–2

Do you agree that Norway deserved to advance to the next stage? If we ignore the final “throwaway” match where France played a second-string lineup, how long have Norway actually been losing? In my opinion, it’s been a very long time. The team has a well-coordinated, structured squad, and they can play with real momentum when things go their way.

In the group stage, they warmed up against African football by beating Senegal, the African champions, 3–2. Before the tournament they also drew 1–1 with Morocco, a CAF Cup finalist. Ivory Coast is also a decent team, but in my view they are more suited to creating intrigue — scoring once and slightly disrupting the opponent rather than controlling games.

I think for many people this will be a “goals day” — both teams to score and over goals in general.

Honestly, I don’t like when everything feels that one-sided, but what can you do when both teams are very attacking?

Unfortunately, I’ll miss this interesting match because I’ll be playing football myself during the game.

South Africa – Canada 1:2

It feels like South Africa deliberately threw the game against Korea just to give Canada an easier matchup in the knockout stage

So, what do we know about the South Africans? They managed to snatch a draw against the Czech Republic with a goal in the dying seconds. Then there was that bizarre match against Korea, where the Korean coach reportedly started beating up his own players in the locker room. Looks like he told them not to throw the match, but they got tempted by whatever incentives they were offered. Otherwise, I honestly can't explain how anyone could lose to this South African team.

The World Cup has already been held in Africa before. This time it's in Canada, where the stadiums are packed and the home crowd is going absolutely crazy for their team.

I'm only deciding between 0:2 and 1:2.

Predictions:

• Canada to qualify.
• Double chance X2 & Over 1.5 goals @ 1.52.

My scenario:
Canada scores before the 60th minute — Подробнее...

**Panama - England 0-2**

A difficult match for betting. I wouldn't risk betting on England over 2.5 because Panama always plays for 1-0. Physically prepared players like Ecuador, but brainless. On one hand, lots of 3 goals, on the other hand, England has a huge advantage. If through Modrić's contacts they find out that the Croats will draw with Ghana, then they don't even need to beat Panama, and for such gifts the bookmaker will help them until the semifinals. A gold mine if England plays 0-0 for the second time. All that mob that went to the championship to cheer for England bets on 5-0, plus a couple of billion worldwide who cum just from the name England, English football and so on. But in reality, this English football is often just kick-run-don't-trip. Hard to guess here, but if we're talking football, 3-0 or 4-0 is just right.

At the World Cup in Russia they played 6-1 without any chance at all.

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Germany are already guaranteed to finish first, so I wouldn't even be surprised if they hand Ecuador three points to make sure Ecuador qualify for the playoffs from third place. I expect the Germans to field a partially rotated squad to avoid injuries and yellow cards.

That's why Ecuador +1.5 at 1.55 looks interesting, especially since Ecuador are generally a defensive, low-scoring team. If both sides were fully motivated to win, then the bookmaker's projected 0-2 scoreline would make sense. But Ecuador desperately need points, so I wouldn't rule out another "bookmaker special" involving top national teams.

Interestingly, the bookmakers are being cautious with Ecuador's team total, setting it at 1.5 rather than 2.0.

Since this match could be one of those semi-arranged situations—where everything appears fair but everyone understands that neither side wants to overextend themselves—there's little point overanalyzing the exact script. Nobody knows whether they'll spend 90 minutes passing the ball around or suddenly start scoring goals for fun.

Ecuador need to attack, so:

Switzerland vs Canada — 1:1

Trying to predict the outcome here is almost impossible. Yes, Switzerland would be the favorite in almost any other situation. But Canada are the defending champions. By the way, with a draw like this, Canada would finish first on goal difference.

Although finishing first in this group could mean getting a more favorable opponent from third place, such as the Czech Republic or Scotland. That's certainly better than facing a group winner. So I'm not entirely sure what to expect. On one hand, Switzerland could almost afford not to show up for this match. On the other hand, what if Bosnia pull off a miracle and beat Qatar 4–0?

In any case, both teams will be monitoring developments elsewhere, while we focus on the football itself.

I expect a tight, physical game with both teams scoring. Whether you prefer 1X or X2 is up to you—this one feels like a coin toss.

The +1 handicap offers little value at 1.27.

These teams generate a huge number of corners—around 8–9 per game each.

Interesting betting options: