World Cup 2026 day 14: Group A recap

The final games of the 2026 World Cup Group Stages are here, and from now until Saturday night, we’ll see who goes through and who goes home, with 3 groups decided every day. 

One of the three groups to be decided on Wednesday night is Group A, with Mexico taking on Czechia and South Africa facing the Republic of Korea. Mexico head into their game knowing they’ve already qualified and won the group, while their opponents face a must-win scenario to stay alive. South Africa finds itself in the same boat as Czechia, as they need to beat the Republic of Korea, while the Republic of Korea can win or draw and safely make it through in 2nd place. 

General view inside the stadium before the match

Henry Romero

World Cup Group A - Matchday 3

Czechia 0 - 3 Mexico 

Miroslav Koubek made a system change and 3 personnel changes to the side that drew 1-1 with South Africa in their last game out. Switching the team from a 3-5-2 to a 3-4-2-1, Koubek replaced Patrik Schick, Vladimir Darida, and Alexandr Sojka with David Doudera, Denis Visinsky, and Pavel Sulc. 

Javier Aguirre kept the same 4-3-3 formation that Mexico has used in both of their other World Cup games so far, but changed 5 players from the side that beat the Korea Republic 1-0 last time out. Raul Jimenez, Jesus Gallardo, Johan Vasquez, Brian Gutierrez, and Erik Lira were all rested with their side already confirmed group winners, with Mateo Chavez, Guillermo Martinez, Israel Reyes, Cesar Montes, and 17-year-old wonderkid Gilberto Mora all coming into the starting XI. 

Czechia had the best opportunity in the opening 10 minutes when Coufal had a shot from just inside the box that went just wide of the post. Visinsky had a decent chance outside the box, but he couldn’t keep his shot from flying wide of the goal. 

The first half an hour or so of the game was really lacking any quality or tempo to the game, but Israel Reyes for Mexico almost produced an all-time World Cup goal when he produced a great overhead kick inside the box, but unfortunately, the strike just went wide of the left post and out for a goal kick. 

Mexico's Alvaro Fidalgo celebrates scoring their third goal

Pedro Nunes

Jorge Sanchez was the next Mexican player to have a shot, and this time it was the first shot on target for the host nation, but his shot towards the near post was an easy, comfortable save for Matej Kovar. 

No other chances really appeared in the game, with only one shot on target for both teams combined in the first half, and they headed into halftime tied at 0-0, a scoreline that would confirm their elimination from the tournament.  

Czechia had a big chance to start the 2nd half from a corner when the ball landed to Lukas Cerv, but his half volley was poorly hit and straight into the keeper’s arms. Unfortunately for Czechia, the next chance of the game fell to Mexico, and they grabbed the opening goal. 

After Czechia went on the attack, Mexico turned the ball over and hit them on the counter with Luis Romo playing Mateo Chavez through on goal, and the young left back, in his first game at this World Cup, put it away beautifully with his left foot for his first-ever goal for his country. 

Mexico's Guillermo Ochoa celebrates their third goal scored by Alvaro Fidalgo

Annegret Hilse

Mexico quickly grabbed a second goal just five minutes after their opening goal, and once again it came from a counterattack. After Mora played Sanchez through, the right back got to the ball first, the ball rebounded off him and the keeper before falling to Quinones, who had a simple tap-in to double Mexico’s lead. 

Guillermo Ochoa, legendary Mexican goalkeeper and modern World Cup legend, came on with just ten minutes to go to make his 154th cap for Mexico and become just the third player in history, alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, to play in 6 World Cups, and it was a wonderful moment to witness with the Estadio Azteca imploding with cheers and Mexican celebrations. 

A perfect night for Mexico was capped off in stoppage time when Santiago Gimenez hit Czechia on the break, and his shot was saved, and the rebound found its way to Alvaro Fidalgo, who smashed the ball into the top corner for Mexico’s third and the goal that truly sealed the fate of Czechia. 

The game ended 3-0, Mexico’s biggest World Cup win since 1970, and they are the first team to keep a 100% record through the group stage as they also sent Czechia home. 

South Africa 1 - 0 Korea Republic 

Hugo Broos made a system change, switching from the 4-3-3 he deployed against Czechia in the 1-1 draw last time out to a 4-2-3-1, with 3 personnel changes. Sphephelo Sithole, Relebohile Mofokeng, and Evidence Makgopa all came into the starting XI, replacing goalscorer Teboho Mokoena, Thalente Mbatha, and Iqraam Rayners. 

General view inside the stadium before the match

Raquel Cunha

Myung Bo Hong opted to keep the same 3-4-2-1 formation from the 1-0 loss to Mexico last time out, but made 3 personnel changes to his side. National icon Son Heung-min was dropped to the bench alongside Jae-sung Lee and Kim Moon-hwan, and the trio was replaced by Lee Tae-seok, Hwang Hee-chan, and Hyeon-gyu Oh. 

The Republic of Korea came close within the opening two minutes when their stalwart defender Kim Min-Jae had a header in the middle of the box, but as it went goalwards, a defender got in the way to block it. 

Korea went on to have another two chances in the opening 8 minutes of the game, first from Oh Hyeon-Gyu, but his shot from the 6-yard box went wide, and then Lee Kang-In had a shot from just inside the box that whistled past the right-hand post. 

South Africa's Thapelo Maseko celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates

Eloisa Sanchez

South Africa’s first real big chance came just before the 20-minute mark when Thapelo Maseko was played through on goal, but his effort was blocked brilliantly by Lee Gi-Hyuk, who recovered really well.  

South Africa really should have taken the lead on the half-hour mark, but a brilliant double save from Kim Seung-Gyu denied them. The Korean keeper first produced a great save to stop Thalente Mbatha’s long-range strike, and then he somehow managed to recover and stop Evidence Makgopa’s rebound effort that was straight at him, although replays show he could have been flagged offside. 

Thapelo Maseko managed to hit the Korea Republic on the counterattack once again, but he rushed into his shot from outside the box and blazed it over the bar. The teams headed into the halftime break tied 0-0, with the scoreline suiting Korea and knocking out South Africa as it stands. 

South Korea's Seol Young-Woo looks dejected after the match

Daniel Becerril

The second half was lacking any events or chances in the first 15 minutes until South Africa blew the entire group apart just before the 65th minute when, on a counter-attack, the ball fell to Thapelo Maseko, who absolutely smashed the ball from outside the box and into the bottom corner to put South Africa 1-0 up and currently leapfrogging their opponent into 2nd place and the knockout stages. 

The Republic of Korea had a half-chance when Castrop crossed the ball into the box with the outside of his foot, but the ball went into the keeper’s hands when a Korean attacker just missed out on getting his head to it. 

South Africa managed to survive the remaining few minutes and win the game 1-0 to send them through to the knockout stages, an incredible achievement. All while Korea Republic will have a nerve-wracking wait to see if they’re one of the eight 3rd-place teams to make it through. 

Day 14, Group A, Round-up:

So that is it for Group A at the 2026 World Cup, and what a final day it was as Mexico go through in first place with 9 points in three games, South Africa finishes 2nd with 4 points, and will travel to Los Angeles to face off with co-hosts Canada in the round of 32.  

The Republic of Korea will have a very long wait ahead of them, finishing 3rd with just 3 points, while Czechia will go home extremely disappointed, finishing 4th with just a single point. 

Tomorrow brings you another amazing day of group-stage action at the 2026 World Cup, with 3 more groups finishing their campaigns. Group E brings you Ecuador vs Germany and Curacao vs Cote d’Ivoire, Group F sees Tunisia take on the Netherlands, and Japan face off with Sweden, and then Group D sees Turkiye face the USA while Paraguay takes on Australia.