Czechia vs South Africa Prediction, Odds & Match Preview

Both Czechia and South Africa will look to bounce back from losses on June 18 in Atlanta.

Czechia took a 1-0 lead over South Korea in their opener. However, the UEFA side conceded two late goals and lost 2-1, with a second goal ruled out for offside.

South Africa lost 2-0 to Mexico on Matchday 1. The match featured more red cards than goals as South Africa finished the match with nine men on the pitch.

Check out the World Cup odds and my Czechia vs South Africa prediction.

Czechia vs South Africa: World Cup Odds

South Africa vs Czechia Prediction

Based on Czechia’s offensive success vs. South Korea and South Africa’s defensive woes lately, my Czechia vs South Africa prediction is Czechia Over 1.5 Goals (+100). 

I liked how Czechia performed offensively in defeat on Matchday 1. A narrow offside call denied them a second goal in the second half against a suspect defense.

Even without that goal, Czechia recorded good offensive metrics. Their 2.07 post-shot expected goals mark bested that of South Korea, despite only one big scoring chance.

Now they’ll get a chance to positively regress against a bad defense. Entering this fixture, South Africa has failed to keep a clean sheet in seven of their last eight matches.

The lone success came in a pre-tournament friendly against Nicaragua.

Before Matchday 1 against Mexico, South Africa last played a competitive fixture in the Africa Cup of Nations against Cameroon.

According to ELO ratings, Czechia (#35) outpaces Cameroon (#61) by a healthy margin. I point that out because Cameroon thrived offensively, scoring twice off 1.65 post-shot xG.

Czechia also posted strong results against this benchmark before Matchday 1. Before that failure, the attack scored at least twice in five straight matches.

That includes pre-tournament successes against Kosovo (#47 in ELO) and Guatemala (#82). For reference, South Africa ranks 80th in those standings.

Lastly, Czechia should enjoy a massive height advantage over South Africa, which lost two starters to red cards. As a result, I predict the favorites score at least twice in Atlanta.