World Cup Day Two: Mexico v. Cameroon

Mexico, as ever, are just there. Nobody who's watched them in qualification expects a great deal, perhaps to sneak out of the groups if they can edge Croatia to second in Group A, but they're at the World Cup. Just as they have been for the last five. This time around, though, they really struggled to get there, having to beat New Zealand in an intercontinental playoff to make it to Brazil. But they'll be expected to beat Cameroon—and to even have a chance of advancing, they'll probably have to.

With an aging Samuel Eto'o up front, Cameroon are nobody's picks to make it out of a strong group. Shaky in defence and lacking guile in midfield, the consensus is that they're just making up the numbers in Group A. A standout performance by disgraced ex-Liverpool goalkeeper Charles Itandje might be enough to get them a point somewhere along the way, and Mexico might be their best chance at that, but they will be favoured to end the group stages with three loses.

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