Joachim Low knew that he took a tremendous chance by bringing a ridiculously young team with him to the Confederations Cup. That said, Germany has answered the call, logging seven points in the group stage to win Group B. Now, the Germans have two more matches they'll get to play in Russia, the first of which will be in the semifinals of this tourney against Mexico.
This Confederations Cup duel will go down Thursday, June 29, 2017, at 2 p.m. ET at Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi. The match will be televised live on FOX Sports 2.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Germany +105
Mexico +280
Draw +240
Over/Under 2.5
Odds Analysis
There's no such thing as an odds-on favorite to win a match in 90 minutes in the Confederations Cup knockout rounds. These four teams are all really, really good. The Germans, though, are as close as it gets to odds-on at +105 on the moneyline. They're the decided favorites to ultimately advance at -160, but that's not such a huge price that it's unbelievable to see an upset.
Mexico has advanced as a big underdog in the past out in major tournaments, and it isn't going to be intimidated, particularly against a team that is particularly young. This price of +280 on the moneyline is pretty darn large.
How They Got Here
Low has to be really happy about the seven points his team picked up in three matches in the group stage in the Confederations Cup. The Germans only trailed for 35 minutes in the first round, all coming against Chile before Lars Stindl equalized in what turned out to be a solid 1-1 draw against what was surely the second-best team in Group B.
The Germans were excellent aside from that. Sure, they gave up a couple goals against Australia and didn't really see them out comfortably, and they let Cameroon score a goal in a 3-1 victory that could have cost them a point. In the end though, those matches both ended in three points, and that's as good as you could have asked.
Mexico finished with seven points as well in Group A. The difference between these teams is that El Tri actually trailed in all three of their matches in the group stage. They were behind 1-0 and 2-1 against Portugal, only ultimately to come back in short order both times. Trailing 1-0 to New Zealand made for 12 scary minutes before getting two second half goals, while the 25th minute goal allowed to Russia put the tournament in the balance before Nestor Araujo and Hirving Lozano saved the day with their first goals of this tourney.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
The good news for Mexico is that it has six different men who have found the back of the net in three matches. The bad news is that Juan Carlos Osorio seems to not be comfortable with really any combination of players he has out there at the moment. That's scary when you're talking about going against one of the top teams in the world, albeit a much younger version of this German squad.
The Mexicans are relatively big underdogs in this match, and we don't totally understand it. We know that this German team is talented, but we also know this is the first time many of these players have been involved in a major knockout match in a big time tourney. There's a chance that nerves could become a bit of a problem.
If for no other reason, that's probably as good of a reason to back Mexico than anything else. But if we're being honest, the way El Tri have managed to possess the ball over the course of the last several years in big matches, they could have a stylistic advantage against Germany as well. We'll take our chances at a big price.
Confederations Cup Odds: Mexico 2, Germany 1
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