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.
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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.
-0.25) 
0.14) 
