Day 1 is in the books, and for a while, it looked like it might feature more red cards than goals. But then late game exploded to life with three second-half goals seeing Korea come from behind to beat the Czech Republic.
I felt the Czechs could’ve started playing a bit earlier than the last few minutes to try to snatch a draw (and they almost did, were it not for a couple great saves and an offside flag), especially as their defense was getting lucky more than anything else early on. Korea played
some lovely stuff at times, but missed multiple great opportunities before getting sucker punched by a set piece goal.
They were only behind for eight minutes however, and then found the winner ten minutes from time to start some wild scenes of celebration from their customarily large traveling support.
Of course, those scenes were nothing compared to the first game, in which Mexico delighted the nation with a 2-0 win over South Africa.
Mexico were firm favorites and dominated proceedings, though their opponents only had themselves to blame for gifting the hosts the opener in the first half, then going down a man early in the second half. It didn’t take too long for Raúl Jiménez to effectively end the contest with an emotional goal halfway through the period, before the whole thing descended into silliness. One more red card followed for South Africa, then we had one for Mexico, too, for good measure. They both seemed a bit harsh, but that’s just a bit of CONCACAF-y energy for ya.
So, welcome to the 2026 World Cup!
On Day 2, it’s the turn of the other two host nations.
CANADA vs. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Canada’s third World Cup, and they’re still looking for their first point, let alone first win. Four years ago, they bowed out with three losses: a disappointment, to be sure. Bosnia did get a win in their one and only other World Cup as an independent nation, back in 2014, but failed to get out of the groups.
Date / Time: Friday, June 12, 2026, 3pm EDT; 8pm BST
Venue: BMO Field, Toronto, Canada
Referee: Facundo Tello (Argentina)
On TV: FOX, Telemundo (USA); BBC One (UK); elsewhere
Streaming online: FOX One, Peacock (USA); BBC iPlayer (UK)
Chelsea interest: Canada head coach Jesse Marsch may be positive to a fault, but despite some of the other talent in the squad (Jonathan David, Cyle Larin), his team will still only go as far as Alphonso Davies’ fitness can carry them. And the Bayern star, who’s been ruled out of this opener, isn’t the only big worry. Defender Moïse Bombito (who plays for OGC Nice in France) and midfielder Ismaël Koné (who plays for Sassuolo in Italy) are questionable with injury and illness, respectively. Bombito looked set to miss the tournament altogether just last week, so this is an impressive recovery from the 26-year-old.
Bosnia are also sweating a big injury: Edin Džeko questionable as he’s still dealing with the shoulder problem he picked in the qualifying playoffs. That the 40-year-old striker is still so important to them perhaps underscores that fact that Bosnia are the lowest-ranked side coming out of Europe. But they have the best World Cup song (unofficial or official), and that surely counts for something. Move over, Shakira!
USA vs. PARAGUAY
We’ll find out just how high World Cup fever is in the States when this game kicks off. The hype has been building, slowly, but seemingly every bar, pub, and casual establishment with a television looks to planning on having this on. They believe that they will win.
Date / Time: Friday, June 12, 2026, 9pm EDT; 2am BST
Venue: Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico
Referee: Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)
On TV: FOX, Telemundo (USA); BBC One (UK); elsewhere
Streaming online: FOX One, Tubi, Peacock (USA); BBC iPlayer (UK)
Chelsea interest: 2019-20 WAGNH Player of the Year, Christian Pulisic is still the big star, now managed by recent BlueCo endurer Mauricio Pochettino. We know Poch can get some good performances out of attacking players, including a certain CP, so if there’s ever been a time for this CP to live up to the hype, this is it. He’s had a horrendous second-half of the season for Milan though, and had not scored a goal at all for club or country since December … until the one against Senegal the other day in a friendly. So perhaps things are turning around.
Tyler Adams came close to being a Chelsea player, too, not that long ago, before that transfer collapsed over fitness concerns. He’s now healthy and fit, and should be one of the key players as the USMNT look to make some noise.
It might be easy to overlook Paraguay a bit, the lowest ranked entrant from South America, but they are very hard to beat (lost just four times in CONMEBOL qualifying* and only Ecuador conceded fewer goals!) and have some wily veterans among their number, including former Newcastle man Miguel Almirón. BlueCo man Julio Enciso, who had a decent season for RC Strasbourg, picked up an injury last week, but it sounds like he may not miss too much time and could be available off the bench.
(*CONMEBOL qualifying was absolute madness, we might recall, as four of the top six teams finished on 28 points, with Ecuador just one ahead on 29, all below top qualifier Argentina, who were miles ahead.)
