The two games in the second round of Group A of World cup of 2026 take place this Thursday (18), with two of the teams seeking to rehabilitate themselves after defeats in their debut and the other two dueling for the leadership of the bracket.
THE Czech Republic face the South Africaat 1 pm (Brasília time), at the stadium in Atlanta, state of Georgia (USA). They are the two teams in the group that lost in the first round, to South Korea and Mexico respectively.
The South Africans fell to one of the hosts of this World Cup 2-0 at the Azteca stadiumin a game marked by three expulsions — one red card for the Mexican team (César Montes) and two for the Africans (Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane).
The referee of this match was the Brazilian Wilton Pereira Sampaio.
Therefore, coach Hugo Broos will have forced changes in relation to the lineup for the first game. Midfielder Sithole’s place should go to Thalente Mbatha.
Zwane is suspended for three games and will no longer play in the group stage. Therefore, Broos can opt for Teboho Mokoena or Jayden Adams to take over the midfield spot.
The Czech team debuted with a 2-1 defeat against South Koreaat the Guadalajara stadium. The European team should have no changes compared to the squad that took to the field last week.
The Czechs are third in the group, ahead of the South Africans, due to their advantage on goal difference. Whoever loses the duel is close to saying goodbye to the World Cup in North America.
In the other game of the second round, Mexico hosts South Korea, at 10pm, in Guadalajara.
Whoever wins takes the lead in the group and is one draw away from qualifying for the next phase of the World Cup, which will have 32 teams – 48 started the dispute.
Striker Julian Quiñones arrives motivated by his good performance in the first game. In addition to scoring one of the winning goals against the South Africans, he was named the best player of the match. In the Saudi Championship, he scored 33 times with Al Qadsiah’s shirt in 31 games this season.
In the opening match, the hosts dominated South Africa, maintaining more than 60% of the ball possession and passing success of over 90%. The collective performance translated into goals from Quiñones and center forward Raúl Jiménez.
With the expulsion of defender César Montes, coach Javier Aguirre will make at least one change to the Mexican team.
On the South Korean side, coach Hong Myung-bo had no casualties in the squad and can repeat the lineup that won the three points in the match against the Czech Republic.
Experienced striker Son Heung-Min, 33, is the team’s star.
