TAB WEEKEND SOCCER HIGHLIGHTS: 19 – 21 JUNE 2026
FIVE-STAR SOCCER AND 2 CASH-ADDED SOCCER 10 BETS
The second round of group clashes in the planet’s greatest soccer show are underway and TAB football customers have loads of exciting action to keep them warm this weekend plus two R200,000-added Soccer 10 pools laced with the top games from the soccer extravaganza in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
BAFANA BAFANA NOW IN DANGER OF EARLY EXIT
Unfortunately, Bafana Bafana could only salvage a point from their second-round clash with the Czech Republic and their hopes of avoiding an early departure from the tournament now appear to rest on beating South Korea in the early hours of next Thursday morning.
That’s still far in the future though and a more immediate concern is how best to navigate tonight’s R200,000-added Soccer 10 pool, which contains a challenging mix of matches including four second-round games from the World Cup and three Irish Premier Division encounters.
The international clashes appear to offer the best banker prospects with victories for the USA and Brazil looking pretty nigh certain.
The USA take on Australia in Seattle (M5 in the Soccer 10 pool) and looked really slick in their opening group game, in which they destroyed Paraguay 4-1 in a contest many pundits had tipped them to lose. That was their biggest margin of victory since 1930 and Australia have it all to do to keep the Americans at bay tonight.
Australia did play out of their skins in scoring a surprise 2-0 success over Turkey in their first group clash, but they will have to do more in tonight’s match, which kicks off at 21:00.
BRAZIL CANNOT AFFORD TO SLIP UP AGAINST HAITI
Brazil took time to find their feet against an energetic and talented Moroccan side in their opener, but steadied after manager Carlo Ancelotti made a couple of structural changes during the first water break and came away with a 1-1 draw.
But that means they cannot afford to slip up against Haiti in tonight’s clash (M9 in the Soccer 10) because anything less than three points will leave them in danger of not automatically qualifying for the knockout rounds. Haiti were surprisingly good in their opening game against Scotland and were unlucky not to get at least a point, but will find Brazil much tougher to contain.
Other possible bankers in the cash-boosted pool, which should total close to R2 million, are Irish Premier League log-leaders Shamrock Rovers to beat bottom-of-table Waterford away and Morocco to put Scotland to the sword.
HERE’S THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEKEND
Tomorrow’s R200,000-added Soccer 10 contains four World Cup second-round clashes including the highlight of the weekend – a Group C cracker between Germany and the Ivory Coast at the Toronto Stadium.
Both teams got their World Cup campaigns off to a winning start. Germany hammered group underdogs Curacao 7-1, though at times it wasn’t as easy as the score line suggests.
Ivory Coast notched a superb 1-0 win over Ecuador, at times riding their luck but ultimately emerging victorious via Amad Diallo’s excellent late goal.
Julien Nagelsmann’s Germany, meanwhile, are looking to end a run that has seen them fail to get past the group stages at the World Cup finals since winning the tournament for the fourth time in 2014.
Germany have an array of attacking talent from Bayern Munich star Jamal Musiala to Liverpool playmaker Florian Wirtz and Arsenal forward Kai Havertz. They do look less secure at the back, however, and coach Emerse Fae’s Ivorians should pose plenty of headaches for the Germans.
They were edged out by Egypt in the quarter-finals of the 2025 AFCON, but they remain one of the powerhouses of Africa as they displayed against Ecuador.
Best bankers for the pool appear to be Japan to beat Tunisia and a win for Ecuador against Curacao, which has exceptional football skills for a nation of less than 100,000 people.
And don’t forget Monday’s Soccer 13, which has a guaranteed all-13-correct pool of R8.7 million!
MATCH PREVIEWS FOR R200,000 ADDED SOCCER 10 BETS
Friday 19 June – S10 V3
M1 Athlone Town vs Wexford FC: Great R200,000-added Soccer 10 to kick off the weekend. Athlone are winless in their last seven games, while Wexford have lost five of their last six. Wexford won the last meeting 1-0 in April and are sixth with 25 points in Ireland’s Division 1, three ahead of seventh-placed Athlone after 19 games.
M2 Drogheda United vs Shelbourne: Drogheda are winless in their last five Irish Premier Division games, while Shelbourne are unbeaten in their last eight. Drogheda won the last meeting 4-3 away, but Shelbourne are fifth and eight points ahead of eighth-placed Drogheda in the table.
M3 Galway United vs Derry City: Derry are unbeaten in eight of their last 10 games, while Galway are winless in three. The teams drew 1-1 in May in their last clash. Derry are sixth with 25 points, four ahead of seventh-placed Galway after 19 games.
M4 Waterford FC vs Shamrock Rovers: Rovers have won 13 of the last 15 meetings with Waterford, losing once. Rovers head the Irish Premier Division with 40 points, 26 ahead of 10th-placed Waterford.
M5 USA vs Australia: Both won their opening games in World Cup Group D, USA beating Paraguay 4-1 and Australia downing Turkey 2-0. USA beat Australia 2-1 in a friendly last October.
M6 Sabadell vs Zamora: Spanish promotion playoff second leg. Sabadell have lost four of their last six games and Zamora won seven of their last 10. Zamora won the first leg 1-0 recently but are now away.
M7 UMF Njardvik vs Leiknir Reykjavik: Iceland Division 1. Njardvík have lost five of their last 10 games in all competitions, while Leiknir have won three league games in a row. Leiknir are fourth on the log and four points ahead of Njardvík, who the last meeting between them 3-1.
M8 Scotland vs Morocco: Scotland are on a three-game winning streak and were all out to beat Haiti 1-0 in their World Cup opener. Morocco are unbeaten in their last 10 and held Brazil 1-1 in their first group game. Seventh-ranked Morocco will start firm favourites against their 38th-ranked rivals.
M9 Brazil vs Haiti: Brazil are unbeaten in four games and came from a goal down to draw their opening game at World Cup with Morocco. They should be up to beating Haiti, who they beat 7-1 in their last clash 10 years ago.
M10 Turkey vs Paraguay: Turkiye (ranked 26th) have won seven of their last nine games and Paraguay (ranked 42nd) have won five of their last 10. Both lost their opening games and both will go all out to get all three points here.
Saturday 20 June – S10 V2
M1 Celta de Vigo II vs Ponferradina: Spanish promotion playoff second leg gets this R200,000-added Soccer 10 under way. Celta are unbeaten in their last four games and Ponferradina in their last six. The teams drew 0-0 in the first leg and Celta now have home ground advantage.
M2 Netherlands vs Sweden: Eighth-ranked Netherlands have won six of their last 10 games and drew 2-2 with Japan in their World Cup 2026 opener. Sweden (ranked 35th) have lost five of their last nine, but trounced Tunisia 5-1 in their opener. Historically little between the two with five wins apiece in their last 15 clashes but they have not met for nine years.
M3 UD Almeria vs Malaga: Second-leg promotion playoff in Spain’s LaLiga2. Almería are unbeaten in four games and Malaga in their last eight. The teams drew 0-0 in the first leg and were separated by only a point in the table.
M4 Germany vs Ivory Coast: Germany are on a 10-game winning streak in all competitions, while Ivory Coast have won four in a row. Both won their opening games at World Cup and ninth-ranked Germany will start strong favourites to beat their 30th-ranked rivals.
M5 Detroit City vs Louisville City: USL Cup clash. Louisville top Group 4 with two wins in as many games while Detroit lost their second game in the group on penalties. Detroit won the last meeting between the teams 2-1 in May, but Louisville have won seven of the last 13 clashes.
M6 Ceara vs Botafogo SP: Ceara have lost five of their last eight games, while Botafogo have been unable to win in nine of their last 10 Serie B fixtures. Ceara are 14th on the Serie B table with 16 points, three ahead of 16th-placed Botafogo.
M7 Vila Nova vs Nautico Capibaribe: Vila Nova have won four of their last five games, while Nautico are winless in three. Vila Nova are second in the league, five points ahead of sixth-placed Nautico after 13 games.
M8 Lexington SC vs Indy Eleven: USL Cup encounter. Both teams have five points in Group 4 and the last two clashes between them have yielded a win for Indy and one draw.
M9 Ecuador vs Curacao: Ecuador have avoided defeat in nine of their last 10 games in all competitions, while Curaçao have lost four of their last five games. Both lost their opening Group E games at World Cup and 28th-ranked Ecuador need all three points here against their 83rd-ranked rivals.
M10 Tunisia vs Japan: Tunisia were no match for Sweden in their opening group game and look likely to battle here against Japan, who held Netherland to a 2-2 draw in their first group game.