talkSPORT tips – Best football bets and expert advice for Thursday 11 June 

The party starts on Thursday with the opening contest of the 2026 World Cup.

Co-hosts Mexico have the honour of getting the action underway against South Africa, while South Korea meet the Czech Republic in the early hours of Friday morning.

We have three selections in the two matches at the summer extravaganza and they make up our best bets of the day.

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Bet of the Day 

South Korea to beat Czech Republic @ 8/5  

South Korea rate a side who can entertain on their way to progressing from Group A of the World Cup and Taegeuk Warriors can get their campaign off to a winning start against the Czech Republic.

Hong Myung-Bo’s strong squad is anchored by Bayern Munich’s Min-jae Kim in defence, while In-beom Hwang is a solid option in midfield. However, it’s in attack where South Korea comes alive.

PSG’s Kang-in Lee is the standout performer, the experienced Heung-Min Son still has quality and Hyun-Jun Yang, Hyeon-Gyu Oh and Hee-Chan Hwang are also excellent forward options.

It’s no surprise that South Korea scored 40 times in 16 World Cup qualifiers and, while the Czechs may offer more than the Taegeuk Warriors faced in their Asian Confederation contests, this may not be the step-up the market anticipated.

The Czech Republic recorded 23 per cent possession when beating Denmark on penalties to qualify for the World Cup and they were also pretty fortunate to beat Ireland in another shootout in the previous round of the qualifiers.

Miroslav Koubek scored 18 times in their eight World Cup qualifiers, but 10 of those strikes came against minnows Gibraltar and goals are a real issue when the Czechs take on good opposition.

South Korea is 8/5 to win in Guadalajara and that is a nice price.

Bet Builder

Both teams to score, over 2.5 goals and Raul Jimenez to score in Mexico vs South Africa @ 21/2  

Co-hosts Mexico and South Africa can put on a show in the opening World Cup contest.

There was no need for El Tri to qualify for the international extravaganza, but Javier Aguirre’s men are unbeaten in their eight friendly matches this year and Mexico hammered Serbia 5-1 on Friday.

The experienced Raul Jimenez, who had another solid season scoring nine Premier League goals for Fulham, will lead the Mexico line and the 35-year-old is fancied to get on the scoresheet.

A solid defence has been key to Mexico’s good form, but an expectant Estadio Azteca crowd will demand El Tri go on the front foot and South Africa could make this a toe-to-toe tie.

Bafana Bafana saw matches in the group stage of the 2025 Afcon end in scorelines of 2-1 and 3-2, before losing 2-1 to Cameroon in the knockout rounds.

The loss to Cameroon was a contest which featured 28 efforts on South Africa hit 18 of those and created an expected goals total of 2.08.

A bet builder on over 2.5 goals, both teams to score and Jimenez to find the net pays a juicy 19/2.

Correct score bet 

South Korea to beat Czech Republic 2-0 @ 21/2  

South Korea has the attacking talent to be a shorter price on the match betting market when they take on Czech Republic. But there could be some small value in playing the Taegeuk Warriors to win 2-0 on the correct score market.

The Czechs struggled for goals, scoring only three times in three games at Euro 2024, and it could be a similar story at the World Cup two years later.

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