The 2026 FIFA World Cup is within a 2-week window, as it opens on June 11th at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. The tournament is the biggest it’s ever been, as 48 teams from around the world will compete across 39 days for the chance to win the World Cup trophy on July 19th.
With three co-hosts for this tournament, Group A gets us started with Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, and Czechia. The focus of the group will be co-hosts Mexico, which will be under a lot of pressure to deliver while competing
on home soil. However, the rest of the teams in the group also have dreams of advancing, and they will want to show out in Mexico. With the group stage having 48 teams, as many as three teams can advance from a group. We take a look at Group A to quickly examine the teams and what their chances are for winning the group.
Schedule
Thursday, June 11th
Mexico vs. South Africa
South Korea vs. Czechia
Thursday, June 18th
Czechia vs. South Africa
Mexico vs. South Korea
Wednesday, June 24th
Czechia vs. Mexico
South Africa vs. South Korea
Mexico
Mexico is here to finally get past the 5th game, and they’re looking for it all in this World Cup that they’re co-hosting with the United States and Canada. The players are under extreme pressure to win and look good doing it, and they even started their camp with controversy as some players were mandated to report before the end of their seasons to have a chance of making the final roster. They get to open up the 2026 World Cup with a return leg of World Cup openers, as their opponent will be South Africa in that first match. South Africa hosted Mexico as they opened up the 2010 World Cup. Mexico wants to first eliminate the stigma of that 5th game and then press for more as they try to get far in the tournament.
FIFA Ranking: 15
Odds of Winning Group: Favorites
One to Watch: Raúl Jiménez will be called upon to score a ton of goals to pace the Mexican offense.
South Africa
South Africa is back in the World Cup for the first time since they hosted it in 2010, and they’re not here to sightsee. They won their group during World Cup qualifying, holding off Nigeria and Benin to clinch their place in this field of 48, and they did it from balanced goalscoring. Twelve players scored for Bafana Bafana during World Cup qualifying, with no player scoring more than 2 goals. That means they all count on each other and the scoring can come from anywhere, which can really frustrate opponents. They hope to do that and surprise some people at this tournament.
FIFA Ranking: 60
Odds of Winning: Slim Chance
One to Watch: Ronwen Williams will have to stand on his head at times between the posts to try and stop some of the elite strikers from finding the back of the net if Bafana Bafana want to do well.
South Korea
South Korea is still one of the underrated teams in the tournament. They have solid players who play well together and are a tough out for any opponent. They’ve developed into a team where multiple players are a threat to score, and they possess the ball well to make it difficult for opponents to turn mistakes into quick offense. They may want to fly under the radar in this group, but could easily win it behind the production of several players and a tenacious defense that stifles the rest of the group.
FIFA Ranking: 25
Odds of Winning: In the mix
One to Watch: Son Heung-min is their captain and best player, and it could be his final World Cup…can he be a hero for the Taegeuk Warriors?
Czechia
Czechia is back in the World Cup for the first time in 20 years, and they don’t care that it came via the playoff. They’re here, and they want to make a new name for themselves in the group stage. Now that the World Cup drought is over, they hope to write a new chapter in their footballing history by becoming just the fourth team to win their World Cup group after qualifying via a playoff, and the first to do it since Senegal in 2002. To accomplish that, they’ll need to have their defense on point and not waste chances to score goals.
FIFA Ranking: 41
Odds of Winning: Dark Horse
One to Watch: Patrik Schick has the potential to score a lot of goals, and he can command a lot of attention on offense.
Who will advance from Group A? What matches are most interesting to you? Let us know in the comments.
