Kick-off: 1600, 22/11/2022
Stadium: Stadium 974
TV: BBC
Mexico and Poland could immediately face their most decisive group game at the World Cup in the opening round of Qatar 2022 fixtures.
These two teams will likely battle it out for second spot behind heavy favourites Argentina in Group C, which also features outsiders Saudi Arabia.
With so much at stake, it will be important not to lose, so we’re backing the draw at 21/10 as our initial Mexico vs Poland prediction.
Mexico Odds
Mexico are at an eighth successive finals and they have exited at the last-16 stage in their seven previous visits.
An experienced squad will be heading to Qatar, with veterans Guillermo Ochoa, Hector Moreno, Hector Herrera and Andres Guardado potentially appearing at their last finals.
But their streak of making it through the group stage could be under threat after an underwhelming CONCACAF qualifying campaign.
El Tri finished second in the eight-team final stage, but failed to win a single game against the other automatic qualifiers – Canada and the United States.
Mexico also failed to retain the Gold Cup last year, beaten by the US after extra-time in the final.
In friendlies earlier this term, Gerardo Martino’s men picked up wins over Nigeria and Peru, but lost to Uruguay, Paraguay and Colombia.
That inconsistent trend has continued this month, with a 4-0 warm-up victory over Iraq countered by a 2-1 defeat by Sweden.
They were reliant on set-pieces to score on the road to Qatar, but will hope striker Raul Jimenez – whose team-high three goals in qualifying all came from the penalty spot – and playmaker Hirving Lozano can hit form.
In what is likely to be a tense opener, a 1-1 draw at 21/4 could be an attractive option from the Mexico vs Poland odds.
Poland Odds
Poland will be hoping to celebrate Robert Lewandowski’s first World Cup finals goal and a rare progression through the group phase.
The trophy-laden striker, 34, will look to lead a country that has two third-place finishes into the knockout stages for the first time since 1986.
Russia 2018 was the only tournament Lewandowski has featured at, but he went goalless as Poland were dumped out early.
He scored three times at last summer’s European Championship, but Poland were winless and finished bottom of their group.
The goals kept flowing in the qualifiers, as he scored eight of Poland’s 30 strikes in the pool stage before netting in the 2-0 play-off success over Sweden.
If Lewandowski transfers that red-hot form to Qatar, and Wojciech Szczesny, Kamil Glik, Matty Cash and Co can keep things tight at the back, this could be the year they reach the last 16.
But to do that, it’s imperative they do not lose this opener, so 29/20 for no goals in the first half looks worth adding to our Mexico vs Poland betting tips.
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