Jesse Marsch’s Canada side are in a very interesting place ahead of this World Cup as one of the three host nations. That standing comes with quite a lot of pressure, with a lot of eyes being drawn to their first game against Bosnia.

Bosnia reached the World Cup in really dramatic fashion, beating Wales and then Italy on penalties to secure their spot after holding both sides to a 1-1 draw in normal time. Bosnia have seen 2+ goals in 10 of their last 11 international matches, only keeping two clean sheets in this period.

It’s clear that Bosnia are vulnerable, and while Canada didn’t have to qualify for this tournament - some of their displays in the warm up games are a bit concerning. They failed to keep clean sheets against the likes of Republic of Ireland and Iceland, two sides who won’t even feature at the World Cup, and there isn’t much technical quality in the side if you take out Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David.

You’ll have to be selective when you use BTTS at this tournament as I don’t expect many of the games to be high scoring, but this is one example where I do think both sides can find the back of the net.

USA are another of the host nations and this game will attract plenty of attention as their opener but it’s an awkward task for Mauricio Pochettino’s side. This group is wide open, with Turkiye and Australia making up the other sides, so an early slip-up for the US could lead to a spiral.

Recent games for Pochettino’s side have unearthed a defensive vulnerability. They’ve conceded in each of their last five games, conceding 2+ goals in four of these matches and even conceded five to Belgium a few months ago.

It’s clear that the backline is vulnerable, which is something that can be exploited by a Paraguay side who have scored in each of their last five matches in the build-up to this tournament - including games against Mexico, Morocco and the USA.

That recent meeting between the sides took place towards the end of 2025, and saw both sides get on the scoresheet inside just 10 minutes. Paraguay themselves don’t look too solid at the back, their only two clean sheets across their last eight matches have come against sides that won’t feature at the World Cup.