2026 FIFA World Cup Group A
FIFA World Cup group
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Group A of the 2026 FIFA World Cup took place from June 11 to 24, 2026.[1] The group consisted of national football teams representing Mexico (co-host), South Africa, South Korea, and the Czech Republic. This also marked the return of the Czech Republic and South Africa to the World Cup, respectively, since 2006 and 2010. The top two teams, Mexico and South Africa, secured their place in the round of 32. Mexico won the group, winning three consecutive games, while South Africa won one game and drew the other, having lost their opening match to Mexico. South Korea finished third, having won one game, while the Czech Republic finished fourth with a single point.
Teams
| Draw position | Team | Pot | Confederation | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Previous best performance |
FIFA Rankings[2][3] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2025[nb 1] | June 2026 | |||||||||
| A1 |  Mexico | 1 | CONCACAF | Co-host | February 14, 2023[nb 2] | 18th | 2022 | Quarter-finals (1970, 1986) | 15 | 14 |
| A2 |  South Africa | 3 | CAF | CAF Group C winner | October 14, 2025 | 4th | 2010 | Group stage (1998, 2002, 2010) | 61 | 60 |
| A3 |  South Korea | 2 | AFC | AFC third round Group B winner | June 5, 2025 | 12th | 2022 | Fourth place (2002) | 22 | 25 |
| A4 |  Czech Republic | 4[nb 3] | UEFA | UEFA second round Path D winner | March 31, 2026 | 10th | 2006 | Runner-up[nb 4] (1934, 1962) | 44[nb 3] | 40 |
Notes
- The rankings of November 2025 were used for seeding for the final draw.[4]
- Although the United bid was selected on June 13, 2018, the automatic berths allocated to the hosts were not confirmed until a decision by the FIFA Council on February 14, 2023.[5]
- As the identity of the UEFA second round Path D winner was not known at the time of the final draw, positions in the FIFA Rankings were not taken into account, and the placeholder in the draw was automatically seeded into pot 4.[4]
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico (H) |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | South Africa |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 4 | |
| 3 | South Korea |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Czech Republic |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 1 |
In the round of 32:[7]
Matches
All times listed are local.[1]
Mexico vs South Africa
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The two teams had faced each other four times, most recently in a 1–1 draw in the 2010 FIFA World Cup opening match, with South Africa as the host nation.[8][9] This match coincidentally took place exactly 16 years after. Additionally, South Africa manager Hugo Broos and Mexico’s Javier Aguirre encountered each other on the same pitch during the 1986 World Cup as players for Belgium and Mexico, respectively.
Mexico went in front in the 9th minute when Julián Quiñones scored with a low right footed finish through the legs of South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams from just inside the penalty area after Sphephelo Sithole was caught in possession on the edge of the penalty area by Erik Lira. Four minutes into the second half, South Africa's Sphephelo Sithole was sent-off after fouling Mexico's Brian Gutiérrez when he was going through on goal.[10] It was 2–0 in the 67th minute when Raúl Jiménez scored his first goal at a World Cup finals, a header at the back post to the left of the net after a cross from the right by Roberto Alvarado.
In the 73rd minute, South African substitute Themba Zwane was sent off for a slap in the face of Mexican forward Roberto Alvarado. In the 92nd minute there was a third red card in the game with Mexican captain César Montes sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity by fouling Khuliso Mudau with Mexico going on to win the game 2–0. [11]
          Mexico[12]
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    South Africa[12]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[12]
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South Korea vs Czech Republic
The teams had played each other three times, most recently in a 2016 friendly, a 2–1 victory for the South Koreans.[14] South Korea and Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic's predecessor state, met previously three times in the 1980s, with a win for the Koreans and two draws.[15] The fixture was the Czech Republic's first World Cup match in 20 years, following their elimination in the group stage during their previous appearance in 2006.
The Czech Republic went in front in the 59th minute with a header from captain Ladislav Krejčí to the right of the net from six yards out after a long throw-in from Vladimir Coufal from the right. It was 1–1 in the 67th minute when Hwang In-beom received the ball from Lee Kang-in before turning back onto his right foot before scooping the ball over the advancing Czech goalkeeper Matěj Kovář and into the right of the net.[16]
In the 78th minute Tomas Soucek headed into the net for the Czech Republic after a free-kick from the left, but the goal was ruled out for offside. In the 80th minute, Hwang In-beom crossed low from the right and Oh Hyeon-gyu finished from six yards out to the left of the net to put South Korea 2–1 in front. In the 82nd minute, South Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu saved down low to his right to stop Adam Hlozek's close-range effort with South Korea going on to win 2–1.[17]
| South Korea | 2–1 | Czech Republic |
|---|---|---|
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[Report 2] | Krejčí  59' |
     South Korea[18]
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     Czech Republic[18]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[18]
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Czech Republic vs South Africa
The teams had only played each other in the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup, where the teams drew 2–2.[19] This was the only match in Group A held outside of Mexico.
By officiating this match, referees Tori Penso, Brooke Mayo, and Kathryn Nesbitt became the second all-female on-field refereeing trio, and the first from the United States, to take charge of a match at a men's FIFA World Cup.[20]
In the 6th minute, Michal Sadílek scored with a finish from the left of the penalty area into the right of the net. In the 83rd minute, South Africa were awarded a penalty when a shot from Thapelo Maseko hit the arm of Pavel Šulc inside the penalty area. Teboho Mokoena scored the penalty, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way with a shot to the left to make it 1–1.[21]
     Czech Republic[22]
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 South Africa[22]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[22]
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Mexico vs South Korea
The sides have previously met 15 times including twice in the World Cup, with Mexico winning both matches: 3–1 in the 1998 tournament in France, and 2–1 in the 2018 edition in Russia. Their most recent meeting was a 2–2 draw in 2025.[23][24]
In the 50th minute, South Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu spilled the ball after a collision with his own player, Lee Gi-hyuk. The ball fell to Mexico's Luis Romo allowing him to hook it back into an empty net.[25]
With the 1–0 win, Mexico became the first team to qualify for the newly introduced round of 32.
| Mexico | 1–0 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
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[Report 4] |
     Mexico[26]
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     South Korea[26]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[26]
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Czech Republic vs Mexico
The teams only played each other once in 2000, a 2–1 win for the Czechs.[27] Czechoslovakia played Mexico at the 1962 FIFA World Cup in a match in which Czechoslovakia scored after just 15 seconds, the second-fastest goal in World Cup history. However, Mexico came back to win 3–1. Their other two meetings saw both teams win once in friendlies.[28]
By defeating the Czech Republic 3–0, Mexico won all three World Cup group stage matches for the first time in its history. This achievement left Mexico as the only co-host to secure a perfect group stage record, following Canada's 2–1 loss to Switzerland and the United States 3–2 defeat against Turkey. Additionally, they were one of only three teams in the tournament to achieve a perfect nine-point streak, alongside France and defending champions Argentina.[29] Czechia were eliminated from the tournament after losing their second group game, and South Africa defeated South Korea to claim second place in the group.
Additionally, the inclusion of Guillermo Ochoa marked his sixth selection to a FIFA World Cup squad, a distinction he shares with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.[30]
Czech Republic[31]
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     Mexico[31]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[31]
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South Africa vs South Korea
The two teams had never met before.
In the 63rd minute, Thapelo Maseko received the ball on the right before shooting left-footed low into the right corner of the net from twelve yards out.
South Africa won the game 1–0 and qualified for the knock-out stages of a World Cup for the first time, as runners up of Group A, while South Korea finished in third and were ultimately eliminated from the group stage as a result of their third-place rankings having dropped down.[32]
| South Africa | 1–0 | South Korea |
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[Report 6] |
South Africa[33]
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South Korea[33]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[33]
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Discipline
The team conduct ("fair play") score would have been used as a tiebreaker if the head-to-head and overall records of teams were tied. It would also be used as a tiebreaker for the third-place ranking between groups if the overall records of teams were tied. The score was calculated based on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials in all group matches as follows:[7]
- yellow card: −1 point;
- indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
- direct red card: −4 points;
- yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
Only one of the above deductions could be applied to a player or team official in a single match.
| Team | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Score | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Czech Republic |
1 | –1 | |||||||||||
| South Korea |
1 | 2 | 1 | −4 | |||||||||
| Mexico |
1 | 1 | 1 | −6 | |||||||||
| South Africa |
2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | −13 | ||||||||