For the 41st time in history, Brazil and Mexico will play on Monday at 10am Eastern in Samara Russia. Brazil has won 23 of the matchups, while Mexico can clam 10. the other 7 have been draws. Mexico will again try to play the role of giant-slayer, as they have already beat Germany at this World Cup, hastening the defending World Cup champion's exit in the group stage. Brazil now finds itself as the favorite to win it all, after Germany and Spain have been vanquished. Mexico should be but a hurdle to Brazil, according to our World Cup Betting odds. Brazil also has a lot of history in their favor; In all of their previous meetings at the World Cup, Mexico has yet to score a goal against Brazil, and since 1990, Brazil has always made it to at least the quarter-finals at the World Cup.
Brazil
Brazil finished first in their group, but not without a couple of hiccups. They let the foot off the pedal against Switzerland in their first game, allowing the Swiss to come back and tie the game in the second half. In Brazil's final group stage game against Serbia, Neymar went down with a foot injury that looked to be serious, with some people even speculating that he may be out for the entire tournament. Fortunately for Brazil, that turned out to not be the case and Neymar is expected to start on Monday. Brazil have consistently gotten better as the World Cup has gone on, but this game will likely be their biggest challenge yet, although it should still be one that can rise to and overcome with ease.
Mexico
In Mexico, much is made of the 'quinto partido', or 'fifth game'. It refers to the fact that since 1994, Mexico has been unable to make it to the quarter-finals, despite having advanced from the Group stage in each of the last seven World Cups. Coincidentally, Brazil is the only other nation to have advanced at least that far every tournament. This time around, Mexico is facing another monumental challenge in taking down what is now the favorite team to win the World Cup. Since Mexico already defeated Germany at this World Cup, there is a sense that they can do it again. The bad news is that ever since that win against Germany, Mexico has been on a downswing, with their last game being a traumatic 3-0 loss to Sweden. The result of Monday's game against Brazil will depend a great deal on Mexico's ability to rebound from that loss.
Match Overview
This game comes down to a simple concept; Brazil has much better players. From Goalkeeper out, the Brazilian team is laced with stars playing on high-level European teams, while Mexico has a handful of players on European clubs followed by a band of national league stars. Brazil has an elite offense to go up against an aging Mexican defense, while at the same time Mexico has an adequate offense to go up against a stellar Brazilian defense. Any way you look at it, Brazil is the favorite in this match. The same was said about Germany when they played Mexico earlier in the tournament, though, and that game still went Mexico's way. If Javier Hernandez and company can find that magic again, maybe Mexico will live to see a 'quinto partido'.
