Group A

The Home Advantage Group

South Africa Korea Republic Mexico Czechia

Venues: Mexico City, Guadalajara, Atlanta

The Group

Group A opens the entire 2026 World Cup on June 11 with Mexico hosting South Africa at Estadio Azteca, a deliberate callback to the 2010 opener in Johannesburg. Mexico are the clear group favourites. Javier Aguirre, in his third spell as El Tri boss, has a side built around Edson Álvarez in midfield, a dangerous Raúl Jiménez–Santiago Giménez strike partnership, and the extraordinary subplot of 40-year-old Guillermo Ochoa making a record sixth World Cup appearance after Luis Malagón's ACL rupture. Playing two matches at the Azteca and one in Guadalajara is a genuine structural advantage. Korea Republic are the obvious second-place contenders. Hong Myung-bo's squad qualified unbeaten through AFC's third round with 22 points and a +17 goal differential across 10 games, and the European depth is real: Kim Min-jae at Bayern Munich, Lee Kang-in at PSG, Hwang Hee-chan at Wolves. Son Heung-min at LAFC is chasing Cha Bum-kun's all-time Korean scoring record of 58 goals, currently sitting on 56. He is motivated, not fading. Czechia are here on grit alone. They scraped through UEFA qualifying, lost 5-1 to Croatia, needed a late penalty in the play-offs against Ireland, then beat Denmark in a shootout. Patrik Schick at Bayer Leverkusen is their match-winner, but this squad's route to the knockout stage runs directly through Korea Republic on June 11. South Africa genuinely are the group's weakest team. Hugo Broos' 4-3-2-1 relies heavily on a Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates spine, 19 of his 26 players are domestic-based, and Bafana Bafana have never advanced past the group stage in any of their three previous World Cups. The market has this right. Backing South Africa to finish bottom is short enough to ignore; the value is on Korea Republic to pip Czechia for second.