We said: South Africa 2-1 Benin
Under new management, South Africa look like a much better side than they were four years ago, and there is genuine positivity around the camp about their chances in this competition. Benin are in a rebuilding phase at the moment, and while we expect them to give a good account of themselves here, we feel that the side from the South will be too good for the West Africans.
Read more.Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a South Africa win with a probability of 59.3%. A draw had a probability of 24.3% and a win for Benin had a probability of 16.41%.
The most likely scoreline for a South Africa win was 1-0 with a probability of 15.24%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (12.55%) and 2-1 (9.2%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.17%), while for a Benin win it was 0-1 (6.78%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 2-1 win for South Africa in this match and our data analysis correctly predicted the win for South Africa.