Winless Czechia and South Africa meet in Atlanta with Group A on the line
Both lost their openers, both still have a route through, and one of them will leave Atlanta in real trouble. A look at Thursday’s Group A meeting.
Jun 18, 2026
Two of the sides still searching for their first point of the tournament meet at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Thursday, with Czechia and South Africa both aware that a Group A opener gone wrong has left no room for another slip. Kick-off is at 9:30pm IST.
Both arrive nursing opening defeats
Neither got the start they wanted. South Africa drew the short straw of facing host nation Mexico in the tournament’s opening match and lost 2-0, a night made harder by red cards for Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane that left them short-handed and short of ideas in the final third. Czechia’s evening was cruel in a different way: they led South Korea before letting the game slip late to lose 2-1.
Those suspensions shape this one. Sithole and Zwane are both banned, so South Africa have to reshape an attack that was already struggling to create clear chances with a full team. Czechia come through their opener with no suspensions and can name their strongest side.
The maths still works in their favour
The expanded 48-team World Cup is unusually forgiving, and that is the one comfort both camps can lean on. Eight of the twelve third-placed teams go through to the knockout rounds, so a single defeat is rarely the end of the road. Win on Thursday and either side climbs right back into contention before the final group games on June 24, when Czechia face Mexico and South Africa take on South Korea.
Lose, though, and it gets bleak quickly. With Mexico and South Korea both opening with wins, the loser here would most likely have to beat one of those two on the final matchday to stay alive. That is the weight sitting on what looks, on paper, like the most even tie in the group.
What to watch
South Africa have to find a way to threaten without two of their more inventive players, and how their coach reshapes the side to do it is the obvious question. Czechia, sensing the most winnable of their remaining fixtures, will fancy taking the game to the opposition early rather than sitting back and risking the kind of late collapse that cost them against South Korea.
It is not a tie that will lead the highlight reels, but for two teams who rarely reach this stage it may be the most important ninety minutes of their group. Whoever blinks first could be packing their bags within a week.