2018 World Cup Odds and Prediction: Mexico Team Betting Preview

El Tri will need to put some ugly performances behind them and successfully navigate their way to the Round of 16 for a seventh consecutive World Cup.

2018 Mexico World Cup Betting Odds

Odds to advance to knockout stages: +100

Odds to win the World Cup: +9200

Number of World Cup wins: 14

FIFA world ranking: No. 15

Manager: Juan Carlos Osorio

Captain: Rafael Marquez

Mexico Players to Watch

Pacey striker Javier Hernandez is the player most footy fans will recognize but the player to watch in this tournament for Mexico is Hirving Lozano. The 22-year-old winger scored 19 goals in 34 appearances for PSV in his debut season in the Eredivisie. He plays on the left hand side and excels at cutting inside on his stronger right foot and attacking the box.

Mexico World Cup Formation and Projected Starting 11

Osorio primarily uses a 4-3-3 formation but he has tinkered with a 4-2-3-1 lineup in the last few friendlies leading up to the tournament.  The manager doesn’t have many good options in the defensive midfielder role and has been experimenting with placing one of his centre halves there as a bruising ball-winner.

Bettors should expect to see Guillermo Ochoa as the starting keeper with some combination of Rafa Marquez, Hector Herra, Andres Guardado, Miguel Layun, Diego Reyes, Hector Moreno and Carlos Salcedo playing in front of him.

Lozano, Carlos Vela and Giovani Dos Santos should occupy the advanced midfield roles with Chicharito playing in the No. 9 position.

Mexico Strengths

Experience is a big positive for this team. Mexico are the second oldest squad by average age (28.8) of the 32 playing in Russia this summer, and no team has more caps per player than El Tri’s at 61.6.

There is a lot of positional versatility among Osorio’s four best attacking players. Vela, Lozano, Dos Santos and Hernandez can all play in the striker role or on the wing. They could catch an opposing defence napping with a smooth flow of positions interchanging on a quick counter attack.

Mexico Weaknesses

The holding midfielder role is a problem area. Rafa Marquez has held the position for nearly 15 years but the 39-year-old can’t be relied on for 90 minutes. He’s the second oldest player at the 2018 World Cup and he no longer possesses the pace to track back on turnovers.

Mexico News

The players were given the night off after their 1-0 win over Scotland but got into a bit of trouble in the evening. The Sun is reporting eight members of El Tri partied with escorts into the early morning. This isn’t even the most interesting bit of gossip surrounding the squad. The aforementioned Marquez, a former Barcelona defender, was named a US Treasury investigation into drug trafficking last summer. Marquez denies any wrongdoing and no charges have come his way.

Mexico Betting Predictions

In terms of World Cup betting odds, Mexico are the favourites to join Germany out of Group F, but there isn’t much separating them from Sweden and South Korea in terms of talent. El Tri got housed 4-1 by Germany at the Confederations Cup last summer and lost 7-0 to Chile two years ago at the Copa America.

Still, Mexico have the experience and enough attacking talent to beat both Sweden and South Korea. Bettors would be wise to back Mexico to advance to the knockout stage at +100.