Mexico and Serbia could be the dark horses at the 2010 World Cup

While the money continues pour in for Spain, Brazil, Argentina and Holland to win this summer’s competition in South Africa, we should remember that this is a cup competition where the best team doesn’t always win. Indeed, from the last sixteen stage onwards, games are often decided by a fatal error or a brilliant piece of individual skill, while there is nearly always one ‘outsider’ that makes it to the quarter finals and sometimes further.

Mexico look as though they have a tremendous chance of going far in the World Cup, providing that they can cope with the pressure of playing hosts South Africa in the first game. Perhaps Bafana Bafana will be the ones who struggle under the weight of expectations, although the Mexicans are certainly worth a second look at odds of 80/1 (Ladbrokes) on the outright market. Javier Aguirre’s team have prepared for the World Cup with matches against England, Holland and Italy, the latter of whom they beat 2-1.

El Tri have a lovely brand of attacking football and if Javier Hernandez and Carlos Vela can produce some cutting edge in the group stages, Mexico can go through to the last sixteen where they might play a team like Nigeria or South Korea. Even if you don’t think they can go all the way, there’s a case for backing them at 89/1 on betfair as their odds will shorten significantly if they get as far as the quarter final stages.

Serbia are another team who could have a favourable route to the last eight and they have been backed into 66/1 with Sky Bet on the outright market. The White Eagles finished ahead of France during World Cup qualifying, so it’s mystifying as to why they are three times the price of Les Bleus. Radomir Antic’s team look as though they’re getting their act together after a 4-3 win over Cameroon and they have some excellent players within the squad.

Captain Dejan Stankovic is a Champions League winner with Inter, while Branislav Ivanovic and Nemanja Vidic are two of the best central defenders in the Premier League. In attack, Pantelic and Zigic should trouble defences and there’s a strong case for saying that Serbia will finish above Germany and face a team like the US or Slovenia in the last sixteen.

Paraguay are the other team who might be worthy of consideration, especially at odds of 100/1 (Sporting Bet). This is a team that finished just a point behind Brazil and five ahead of Argentina in south American qualifying, with manager Gerardo Martino able to call upon a brilliant striker named Lucas Barrios who could be one of the stars of the tournament. If they get a favourable result against Italy on Monday, Group F could be there for the taking and it would mean a likely last sixteen match against Cameroon or Denmark.