BRAZIL will look to take another step towards ending their 20-year wait for World Cup glory when they square off with South Korea in the last-16 at Stadium 974 on Monday night.
The Selecao were the pre-tournament favourites and having since negotiated their way through Group G, the price on Tite's team to lift the trophy has narrowed.
The Brazilians were solid if unspectacular with their back-to-back wins over Serbia and Switzerland before going on to lose 1-0 in what was a dead rubber for them against Cameroon last time out.
While that loss may have come as a shock to the system for Brazil, they will welcome back their big guns when they set out to seal their passage into the quarter-finals stage against South Korea.
The Taegeuk Warriors upset the odds by plotting their way out of a pool that included European powerhouse Portugal and a Uruguay team that were heavily touted as dark horses heading into this year's winter showpiece.
Friday's dramatic 2-1 win over Portugal ensured Paulo Bento's boys booked their place in the knockout round for only the third time in their history, but extending their stay in Qatar is going to be a very tall order.
Outright Betting
Brazil, who had won each of their previous nine matches before losing to Cameroon, enter this contest as short-priced 6/25 (Highbet) favourites.
South Korea have fallen to defeat in each of their last four matches against Brazil and the bookmakers' odds suggest that sequence will continue here, with the Asian heavyweights 89/20 (Highbet) underdogs while the draw in normal time is an unfancied 101/10 (Highbet).
Betting Angles
Brazil can't be backed at the above-mentioned price but we can bump the odds up to an enticing 17/20 (Bet 365) by siding with them to overcome a – 1.5 hurdle on the Asian Handicap.
This selection would deliver a full pay-out if Brazil win by a two-goal margin or greater and that holds plenty of appeal given the significant gulf in quality between the teams.
As already alluded to, the majority of Brazil's big big hitters will return for this game and I suspect South Korea will find their illustrious opponents' forward line too hot to handle here.
Tite's star-studded side have successfully covered a -1.5 start in a sizeable nine of their last 13 victories across all competitions – one of which was a thumping 5-1 friendly win over the Taegeuk Warriors as recently as June.
Of course, this promises to be a very different contest to the one-sided affair in the summer, not to mention South Korea have already demonstrated by getting out of Group H that they should be capable of keeping this clash competitive.
That being said, I expect a South Korea side that shipped three goals against Ghana to fall short against a Brazil squad that is loaded with quality, all of which adds to the appeal of backing the Samba stars to win with room to spare.
Elsewhere, I'll also dip into the player card market where Moon Hwan Kim is perhaps worthy of some interest to pick up a booking at a rather big looking 7/1 with Unibet.
The South Korea right-back is not exactly renowned for being a card magnet but he should have his hands full here against Vinícius Júnior who's pace and trickery has been causing opposition defenders all sorts of problems thus far.
This World Cup match between Brazil and South Korea will be played on Dec 5, 2022 and kick off at 19:00. Check below for our tipsters best Brazil vs South Korea prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
