The 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup turns a page as all teams will begin playing their second games and with that true storylines are emerging. Some teams will be pushing for qualification, while others will be hoping to stay alive.Czechia and South Africa begin the day as both Group A teams come off an opening loss and need to win to realistically keep their knockout hopes alive. Switzerland and Bosnia and Herzegovina then face off in the second game as the Swiss look to rebound from an embarrassing draw in its Group B opener while the Bosnians look to take a step towards their first ever knockout.The third game takes us to Vancouver, where Group A co-hosts Canada need a win over Qatar, which is lucky to be entering this game with a point. The nightcap will take place in Guadalajara, where Group B co-host Mexico takes on South Korea and what should be an entertaining game between two teams who impressed in their respective opening wins.When: Thursday, June 18, 12 p.m. ETWhere: AtlantaTV: FOXStream: Watch three days free on FOX OneThe 48-team format can be forgiving with eight of 12 third-place teams advancing to the knockouts, but a lot is at stake as Czechia takes on South Africa on Thursday at Atlanta Stadium. Both teams lost their respective Group A opening games and the winner of this game has a clear path to advance while the loser seems likely to go home after the group stage.Czechia dropped its opening game to South Korea by a 2-1 scoreline. While South Korea had most of the chances in the game, Czechia scored first and was always in the game because of its ability to score from set pieces. Throughout its qualifying campaign and into UEFA’s playoff round, Czechia scored 11 of its 22 goals on set pieces. Then against South Korea, team captain Ladislav Krejcí headed home the opener.Czechia’s Ladislav Krejčí scores header off set-piece, taking lead over South Korea | 2026 FIFA World Cup Against South Africa, Czechia will again look to dominate on set pieces while also aiming to create more from the run of play. Against a South Africa team that has been vulnerable in the back and tactically sits deep against good opponents, the chances should be there for Czechia from the run of play as well.For South Africa, confidence could be a concern after an especially poor performance in its 2-0 loss to Mexico in the opening game. Bafana Bafana was never in the game from the start, but it only got worse when Sphephelo Sithole was sent off in the…
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2026-06-18 04:31:29
