Brazil take on Mexico in Samara on Monday afternoon, on their way to what they’re hoping is a sixth W. Cup win. In fact, they’ve won it the most times out of any country in the history of the tournament. Whereas opponents Mexico have yet to win the competition, despite this being the 17th time they’ve qualified for it.
Brazil have yet to be convincing in the tournament so far, but they’re exactly the kind of team that grows into tournament football and could go deep in the competition. They had to win their final group game against Serbia to make it through to the knockout stages, which they did, 2-0, thanks to goals from Paulinho and Thiago Silva. However, they were nervy in the game and it wasn’t until the second goal went in that confidence was restored. Neymar has yet to fire in this tournament, scoring just once so far, but Philippe Coutinho is their top scorer with 2 and has also been crucial in creating chances for his teammates.
Mexico, meanwhile, have been knocked out at this stage six times in a row, but they’ll believe that they can take the game to Brazil. Their first performance against Germany will have worried some of the tournament favourites, however, they were shambolic against Sweden in their final game. Hirving Lozano and Miguel Layun have had fine tournaments so far, but they face a real challenge against Brazil. They can triumph though, if they play like they did against Germany.
Brazil vs. Mexico Predictions
There’s so much hope in Mexico that they can finally make it to the quarter finals, but they’re going to have to beat a strong Brazil side if they’re going to do it. I can’t see it happening and Brazil should win this game in 90 minutes.
Brazil vs. Mexico Betting Tips
- Brazil to win and both teams to score: 12/5
- Coutinho to score first: 9/2
- Neymar to score from outside the box: 11/2
Head to Head
- Brazil and Mexico have met 40 times previously, with over half of those encounters ending in wins for the Selecao (W23, D7, L10).
- Mexico have won none of their four previous games against Brazil at the W. Cup (D1 L3). In fact, the Mexicans haven’t even scored a single goal in those four matches (11 conceded).
- This will be the fifth encounter between Brazil and Mexico at the W. Cup. Only three fixtures have been played on more occasions in the competition (Brazil vs. Sweden 7 times, Argentina vs. Germany 7 times and Germany vs. Yugoslavia 6 times each).
- Brazil last failed to reach the quarter finals of the W. Cup back in 1990. Since then, they’ve always made it to the last eight of the tournament.
- Brazil will be looking to win their third game in a row at the W. Cup which hasn’t happened since the 2006 edition.
- Brazil are unbeaten in their last 14 games (W10 D4), with their last defeat dating back to June 2017 against Argentina (0-1).
- Mexico have been knocked out in the round of 16 in each of their last six W. Cup appearances. In fact, they’ve never progressed further than the second round when playing a W. Cup outside their own borders.
- Mexico are the team with the most games played at the W. Cup without ever winning the tournament: 56 games, 0 trophies.
- Should Mexico reach the quarter final of the W. Cup, it would be the sixth time a CONCACAF nation has reached that stage and the first time it has happened in consecutive tournaments, with Costa Rica doing so in 2014.
- Mexico faced five times more shots on target from their opponents than Brazil in the group stages (20 vs. 4).
- Philippe Coutinho has been directly involved in three of Brazil’s five goals at this year’s W. Cup (2 goals, 1 assist). His first ever goal for the national team came against Mexico in June 2015 (2-0).
- Mexico’s Javier Hernandez has only had one shot on target in 270 minutes at this year’s W. Cup, although he did score from it (against South Korea).
Brazil Team News
Alisson (Roma), Ederson (Manchester City), Cassio (Corinthians), Danilo (Manchester City), Fagner (Corinthians), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Silva (Paris Saint Germain), Marquinhos (Paris Saint Germain), Miranda (Internazionale), Pedro Geromel (Gremio), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Paulinho (Barcelona), Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk), Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan), Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona), Willian (Chelsea), Douglas Costa (Juventus), Neymar (Paris Saint Germain), Taison (Shakhtar Donetsk), Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
Mexico Team News
Guillermo Ochoa (Standard Liege), Alfredo Talavera (Toluca), Jesus Corona (Cruz Azul), Carlos Salcedo (Eintracht Frankfurt), Diego Reyes (FC Porto), Hector Moreno (Real Sociedad), Hugo Ayala (Tigres), Edson Alvarez (America), Jesus Gallardo (Monterrey), Miguel Layun (Sevilla), Rafael Marquez (Atlas), Hector Herrera (Porto), Jonathan dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Marco Fabian (Eintracht Frankfurt), Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Javier Hernandez (West Ham), Raul Jimenez (Benfica), Oribe Peralta (Club America), Jesus “Tecatito” Corona (Porto), Carlos Vela (LAFC), Javier Aquino (Tigres), Hirving Lozano (PSV Eindhoven)