South Africa’s three group opponents at the 2026 FIFA World Cup each present their own challenges, writes Mark Gleeson.

South Africa’s first priority at the World Cup will be to get past the first round, but it will not be easy.

Their Group A opponents look a formidable trio.

Bafana’s opening outing is against co-hosts Mexico in the opening match at the iconic Azteca Stadium on 11 June, followed by the Czech Republic in Atlanta on 18 June and then South Korea in Monterrey on 24 June.

The top two teams in the group advance to the next round, but there is also progress for the eight best third-placed finishers to make the Round of 32.

MEXICO

Mexico will have high hopes of riding the home wave as far as they can at the World Cup.

They are perennial competitors with 17 past tournament appearances, behind only Brazil, who have featured in all 22 World Cups, followed by Germany with 20, and Italy and Argentina with 18 each.

In seven of their last eight World Cup appearances, Mexico have made it out of the group stage and into the Round of 16, but then gone no further.

The one exception was the last World Cup four years ago in Qatar, where they went out at the first hurdle, finishing behind Poland on goal difference.

That was a major blow for the Mexicans and has only increased the pressure on them to perform, adding to the expectation of the home fans.

They have two of their three group games at the Azteca Stadium and the other in Guadalajara, and if they top the group and then reach the quarter-finals, they are guaranteed two more games in the capital.

Mexico became the first country to host three editions of the World Cup with their staging of the 1986 finals, when they reached the quarter-finals, matching their remarkable run as hosts in 1970.

The team is captained by Edson Álvarez, a defensive midfielder for Fenerbahçe on loan from West Ham United. This will be his third World Cup.

The attack is led by Fulham’s Raúl Jiménez. The 34-year-old veteran is best known for his thrilling bicycle kick against Panama in World Cup qualifying that helped Mexico book their ticket to the 2014 World Cup. Jiménez also helped Mexico win Olympic gold at the 2012 Summer Games.

Diego Laine is nicknamed “The Mexican Messi”, while Santiago Giménez is a rising star at AC Milan.

The side is coached by Javier Aguirre, who returned to the Mexico dugout in July last year.

This is his third stint as national team coach, having first led his country at the 2002 World Cup and again at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where they also met Bafana Bafana in the opening match.

“We’re all focused on the end goal, which is for Mexico to have our best-ever World Cup,” he says.

CZECH REPUBLIC

The Czechs were among the last qualifiers, eventually booking their ticket in the March play-offs by triumphing in two successive penalty shoot-outs to secure a World Cup berth for the first time since Germany 2006.

They qualified after a dramatic shoot-out victory over Denmark, having first overcome the Republic of Ireland on penalties in their semi-final.

Czech Republic were forced onto the UEFA playoff pathway after finishing second behind Croatia in Group L of the preliminary qualifying competition, with 74-year-old Miroslav Koubek named as their new coach in December.

It was a tumultuous campaign that saw issues with supporters, Tomáš Souček stripped of the captaincy, win bonuses withheld, and a change of coach.

Former goalkeeper Koubek replaced Ivan Hašek, who was fired in October after a humiliating 2–1 loss to the Faroe Islands in qualifying.

Koubek called his appointment a “huge honour” and the biggest challenge of his career. The team talisman, Soucek, endured a turbulent qualifying campaign.

He was stripped of the captaincy for allegedly “ignoring” supporters following the 6-0 win over Gibraltar.

The team bonus was also withheld as collective punishment.

He remains a dominant figure in the middle of the park whose late surging runs into the penalty area will have to be closely tracked.

Goalkeeper Matej Kovár was the play-off penalty shoot-out hero and played every game in the qualifying campaign.

He joined Manchester United as a 17-year-old, but a place on the bench for a Europa League tie under Ole Gunnar Solskjær was the closest he came to a senior appearance.

In January, he moved to Dutch champions PSV on a permanent basis after a successful loan spell.

The Czechs’ last World Cup outing saw them exit at the group stage, with a 3-0 victory over the USA the highlight, alongside defeats at the hands of Ghana and Italy.

SOUTH KOREA

Two defeats in the last international window in March saw the Koreans drop three places to No.25 in the FIFA rankings, suffering the biggest drop among the top 30 nations after losing 4–0 to Ivory Coast and by a lone goal to Austria.

Their failure to score has sparked a crisis of confidence, especially in star player Son Heung-min, who is suffering a dip in form.

The long-time captain has struggled in the opening weeks of Major League Soccer action for Los Angeles FC and did not make much of an impact on international duty either.

If Son does not turn things around, whether he should even start for South Korea at the World Cup will become a valid, if uncomfortable, question for head coach Hong Myung-bo.

In Qatar four years ago, the Koreans advanced to the Round of 16 for the first time in 12 years, but their campaign ended in defeat to Brazil.

Despite two coaching changes after the 2022 World Cup, South Korea advanced comfortably through the Asian qualifiers, remaining unbeaten throughout.

In the second round, they were drawn into a group with China, Thailand and Singapore, winning every match bar a single 1-1 draw with Thailand.

In the final round, Korea faced Jordan, Iraq, Oman, Palestine and Kuwait in Group B.

With six wins and four draws, they topped the group to seal their place at the finals, becoming the only team in Asia to qualify without a single defeat.

Korea’s finest hour came on home soil at the 2002 World Cup, where the team reached the semi-finals.

After securing a thrilling 2–0 victory over Poland in their opening match in front of their home fans, they drew 1-1 with the USA and beat Portugal 1-0 to advance to the Round of 16.

There, Ahn Jung-hwan missed a first-half penalty but redeemed himself with a golden-goal winner against Italy in extra time, sealing a 2–1 comeback victory.

Korea Republic then eliminated Spain on penalties in the quarter-finals before falling 1–0 to Germany in the semi-finals