Any early shocks? Sutton's World Cup 2026 score predictions - opening group games

By Chris Bevan BBC Sport journalist Published 10 June 2026 BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton is predicting the outcome of all 104 games at the Fifa World Cup 2026. He starts with the scores for the first matches in each group, including the tournament opener between co-hosts Mexico and South Africa, holders Argentina against Algeria and England versus Croatia. AI, which finished top of last season's BBC Premier League Predictions League, is also getting involved this time, trying to repeat its domestic success on the international stage. Its predictions have been generated using Microsoft Copilot Chat. We simply asked the tool to 'predict the results of the opening round of World Cup group games'. Disagree with our expert human and think you know more than any machine? Here's your chance to prove it. A new BBC predictor game is being introduced for this World Cup, allowing readers to pick a winner from every match, or go for a draw. PLAY WORLD CUP PREDICTOR HERE GROUP A Sutton's pre-tournament picks: South Korea (winners) and Mexico (runners-up). Czech Republic to finish third and South Africa fourth. Mexico v South Africa Mexico City / Thursday, 11 June / 20:00 BST I am at the Azteca Stadium for BBC Radio 5 Live for this game and cannot wait. I'm not expecting too much from this Mexico team, however. The co-hosts don't have many players from Europe's top five leagues and it feels like they are a bit mediocre going forward. The onus is on Raul Jimenez, who has just rejoined Wolves from Fulham, to score their goals but, at 35, he is not the player he was. A lot of South Africa's team are based in their own league as well - Burnley striker Lyle Foster is their only player from the Premier League or Championship. This will be close, but Mexico's home advantage gives them the edge. Sutton's prediction: 1-0 AI's prediction: 2-0 South Korea v Czech Republic Guadalajara / Friday, 12 June / 03:00 South Korea's captain and icon Son Heung-min is at his fourth World Cup and brings experience, but their hopes don't just rest on him - Lee Kang-in of Paris St-Germain should shine too. The Czech Republic are a pragmatic team but they are resilient too, and I can see them picking up a point. Sutton's prediction: 1-1 AI's prediction: 1-1 GROUP B Sutton's pre-tournament picks: Switzerland (winners) and Canada (runners-up). Bosnia-Herzegovina to finish third and Qatar fourth. Canada v Bosnia-Herzegovina Toronto / Friday, 12 June / 20:00 Edin Dzeko is still leading the line for Bosnia-Herzegovina at 40 and they don't carry a huge goal threat, but their focus is more on defence anyway. Canada are not prolific scorers either but, like any Jesse Marsch team, the co-hosts will play with high intensity and press the ball. I know their right-back Alistair Johnston well from watching him play for Celtic - he will play in the Premier League one day - and it is great he has made this tournament after missing most of the season with a hamstring injury. It appears another