World Cup 2026 Group A has a good mix of an excitable host nation Mexico, The Czech Republic or Czechia who if you include Czechoslovakian football history are a twice runner up, South Korea covering the Asia continent who have made a Semi Final and Sout Africa rounding off another continent, and making it three of the four teams in this group as former hosts of the World Cup. It’s down the lower end of the rankings average, but should be super competitive.
FIXTURES
Here’s the list of games for the group as well as links for the Previews/Match Reports as they are available.
| Match |
AEST Day |
Date |
AEST Time |
Team1 |
Team2 |
Ground |
Location |
Result |
| 1 |
Friday |
Jun-11 |
5:00 |
Mexico |
South Africa |
Estadio Azteca |
Mexico City |
2-0 (Report) |
| 2 |
Friday |
Jun-11 |
12:00 |
South Korea |
Czech Republic |
Estadio Akron |
Zapopan |
2-1 (Report) |
| 25 |
Friday |
Jun-18 |
2:00 |
Czech Republic |
South Africa |
Mercedes-Benz Stadium |
Atlanta |
|
| 28 |
Friday |
Jun-18 |
11:00 |
Mexico |
South Korea |
Estadio Akron |
Zapopan |
|
| 53 |
Thursday |
Jun-24 |
11:00 |
Czech Republic |
Mexico |
Estadio Azteca |
Mexico City |
|
| 54 |
Thursday |
Jun-24 |
11:00 |
South Africa |
South Korea |
Estadio BBVA |
Guadalupe |
|
GROUP STATS
| Team |
Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Total WC Appearances |
Previous World Cup |
Previous best effort |
| Mexico |
Hosts |
14/02/2023 |
18 |
2022 |
Quarter-finals (1970, 1986) |
| South Korea |
AFC third round Group B winners |
5/06/2025 |
12 |
2022 |
Fourth place (2002) |
| South Africa |
CAF Group C winners |
14/10/2025 |
4 |
2010 |
Group stage (1998, 2002, 2010) |
| Czech Republic |
UEFA play-offs Path D winners |
31/03/2026 |
10 |
2006 |
Runners-up (1934, 1962) |
PREDICTIONS
Here’s where we put our money where our mouth is. Using all of the stats below and more, we have developed a H2H win rating for both teams for all Group Stage games. If the rating is within 5% of each other we’re calling a draw, otherwise the higher the rating the more likely to win. From there we come up with our prediction on the final table. All of that is available below for following, arguing or ignoring. We welcome any.
H2H MATCH RATINGS
| Group |
Match |
Team1 |
Ratings |
Team2 |
Ratings |
Match Prediction |
| A |
1 |
Mexico |
58.2% |
South Africa |
41.8% |
Mexico |
| A |
2 |
South Korea |
56.3% |
Czech Republic |
43.7% |
South Korea |
| A |
25 |
Czech Republic |
47.8% |
South Africa |
52.2% |
Draw |
| A |
28 |
Mexico |
57.5% |
South Korea |
42.5% |
Mexico |
| A |
53 |
Czech Republic |
49.0% |
Mexico |
51.0% |
Draw |
| A |
54 |
South Africa |
44.2% |
South Korea |
55.8% |
South Korea |
FINAL TABLE PREDICTION
| Team |
Pts |
| Mexico |
7 |
| South Korea |
6 |
| Czech Republic |
2 |
| South Africa |
1 |
GENERAL STATS
