FIFA World Cup Betting: Our World Cup betting previews continue with a look at South Africa, the host nation for this spectacle. The good news that the Bafana Bafana will find is that there has never been a host country fail to make the knockout round of this tournament. The bad news is that there has also never been an African country go past the quarterfinals of this event either.

South Africa didn't have to work in qualifying, as it was automatically given a berth into the field by virtue of the fact that it is hosting it. However, the Bafana Bafana did play in six matches as preparatory affairs and went 2-1-3 in those affairs. The South Africans also made it to the semifinals in the Confederations Cup in 2009 before losing in the semifinals to Brazil and the third place game to Spain; the #1 ranked team in the world.

If South Africa is making it through this group, M Steve Pienaar is going to be the man that is going to carry the club there. He is the only member of this team to be very familiar with big time club soccer in Europe, as he has been a leader of Everton in the English Premier League for several seasons.

This is still a rough draw for South Africa. All three of these World Cup picks could go either way, as France, Uruguay, and Mexico are all beatable, but they're also all teams that could get three points from the Bafana Bafana as well. The hosts are +12500 on the World Cup lines to win it all and are +160 to make it through to Round 2.