Brazil heading for a showdown

You shouldn’t look too far ahead in a World Cup. One task at a time has to be dealt with

In the round of 16 between Brazil and South Korea, our tip is clearly for a victory for the Selecao and therefore the Brazilians can already go through the contingencies until the semifinals, where possibly the archrivals from Argentina will be waiting.

For now, however, the focus is on the match between the record world champions and the South Koreans, and even then the next opponents will be Japan or Croatia. It is conceivable that the Brazilians will now have a few Asian days ahead of them. However, one should not neglect the fact that Tite’s team did not do more than necessary in the preliminary round and will now have to step up a gear.

However, there is no getting around the fact that the prediction for the match between Brazil and South Korea must clearly go to a victory for the South Americans. After all, the Brazilians have never missed the quarter-finals at seven World Cups in a row since the 1994 World Cup. To be honest, it has to be said that it was a weak World Cup for the Selecao if they now lose out to the Koreans.

The Taegeuk Warriors have made it past the preliminary round for the third time in their World Cup history. In 2002, South Korea even made it to the semi-finals at their home World Cup. Otherwise, it was enough to reach the round of 16 in 2010. For that reason alone, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is already a success. Everything that is now added for Paulo Bento’s team is to be seen as a pure bonus.

Brazil – Statistics & current form

In the preliminary round of a World Cup, there is basically no other goal than to get into the playoffs. It is not about shooting the opponents out of the stadium. That’s why the Brazilians are on target. However, it has to be said that the Selecao have not been completely convincing. In the opening match against Serbia, there was a relatively commanding 2-0 victory, but after that things got much worse.

Winning streak against Cameroon broken

Perhaps it was due to the absence of Neymar that they had big problems against Switzerland and only won 1-0 with a late goal by Casemiro. This meant that the Brazilians were already safely qualified for the last 16. That was the reason why a B-team of the Brazilians was on the pitch in the last group match, which then not only struggled against Cameroon, but also lost 0:1.

This snapped the Brazilians’ fine streak, which had previously been unbeaten in 17 games and had won nine in a row before this defeat. However, we think that the Selecao will now return to successful patterns and that is why we are mainly looking at the odds in the clash between Brazil and South Korea, which have something to do with a success for Tite and his eleven.

However, the Brazilians have major personnel worries. Neymar is still questionable after an ankle injury. In addition, Danilo and Gabriel Jesus are also likely to miss out. But the Selecao have been worst hit at right-back. Alex Telles and Alex Sandro are both likely to be unavailable, meaning Tite will either have to make tactical changes or resort to an unskilled right-back.

Predicted Brazil line-up:
Allison – Bruno Guimaraes, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Eder Militao – Lucas Paqueta, Casemiro, Fred – Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, Richarlison – Coach: Tite

Last matches played by Brazil:

World Cup Group G
03/12/2022 – Cameroon 1 – 0 Brazil

28/11/2022 – Brazil 1 – 0 Switzerland

25/11/2022 – Brazil 2 – 0 Serbia

Friendlies
28/09/2022 – Tunisia 1 – 5 Brazil

24/09/2022 – Brazil 3 – 0 Ghana

South Korea – Statistics & current form

The fact that the Taegeuk Warriors are still in the tournament is almost a sensation after they thought they had already been eliminated and with Portugal and Uruguay as well as Ghana, two to three teams in the preliminary round were rated much stronger. But the South Koreans have an enormous capacity for suffering and only concede defeat at the last second. So the Asians made it into the play-offs after all.

With drama into the last 16

The first two performances in Qatar could already be described as tired. Against Uruguay, they still managed a goalless draw in a weak match. The Asians then lost 3-2 to Ghana and, to make matters worse, coach Paulo Bento became the first World Cup coach to receive a red card and was banned from the showdown with his native Portugal.

After Portugal’s opening goal, there was still no sign of Korea progressing in this final match. However, Young-Gwon Kim equalised and in injury time Hee-Chan Hwang scored the 2-1 winner. With Uruguay beating Ghana 2-0 at the same time, the win was enough for the Taegeuk Warriors to advance to the last 16. The fact that the forecast between Brazil and South Korea now clearly points in the direction of the Selecao will not bother the Asians.

After all, the Koreans have only lost one of their last six games. More importantly, Heung-Min Son seems to have had his World Cup moment with the opening goal against Portugal. In fact, it is the Tottenham Hotspur superstar who is now causing problems for the Selecao. Unlike the Brazilians, the South Koreans will be able to start with their desired formation on Monday.

Predicted line-up of South Korea:
Seung-Gyu Kim – Jin-Su Kim, Young-Gwon Kim, Kyung-Won Kwon, Moon-Hwan Kim – Woo-Young Jung, In-Beom Hwang – Heung-Min Son, Kang-In Lee, Jae-Sung Lee – Gue-Sung Cho – Coach: Bento

Last matches played by South Korea:

World Cup Group H
02/12/2022 – South Korea 2 – 1 Portugal

28/11/2022 – South Korea 2 – 3 Ghana

24/11/2022 – Uruguay 0 – 0 South Korea

Friendly matches
11/11/2022 – South Korea 1 – 0 Iceland

27/09/2022 – South Korea 1 – 0 Cameroon

Brazil – South Korea Direct comparison / H2H record

Whenever the Brazilian and South Korean teams have met, it has never been for points. All seven direct duels have been for testing purposes only. The direct comparison is clearly in the Selecao’s favour. The South Americans are 6:1 ahead after victories. That means there has never been a draw between these two teams.

The Asians recorded their only victory in March 1999. Most recently, however, things turned bitter twice. Brazil won 3-0 in November 2019, the last meeting less than half a year ago. In the summer, the Selecao won 5-1 in Seoul, with Ui-Jo Hwang levelling the early deficit with a goal from Richarlison. After that, however, the Brazilians played their class to the full, scoring twice from Neymar and goals from Coutinho and Gabriel Jesus to secure an emphatic victory.

Brazil – South Korea tip

Who will face Japan or Croatia in the World Cup quarter-finals? If we believe the bookmakers, there is no way around a win for the South Americans in the clash between Brazil and South Korea. For the Selecao, however, it will depend on whether they can turn the switch back on after their defeat to Cameroon. The answer to this question should tend to be ‘yes’ and then coach Tite’s team would reach the quarter-finals for the eighth time in a row.

The advantage of the Asians, however, is that they are the glaring underdogs. They will throw everything into this game. Paulo Bento’s team has nothing to lose. A win and a second place in a World Cup quarter-final would be an absolute sensation. But the Koreans have a team that is not afraid of anyone.

It was only in the summer that the Brazilians won a test match 5:1. We think it’s conceivable that there will be plenty of goals again on Monday. Therefore, we think bets on more than 3.5 goals are very interesting. In any case, we think that the Selecao will want to show who is the boss in the ring early on and that is why we have decided to play the betting odds on HT/FT of the South Americans between Brazil and South Korea.