2026 World Cup Group A: Mexico Lead a Wide-Open Four-Way Battle
Mexico enjoy home advantage, South Korea and the Czech Republic boast genuine quality, and South Africa carry upset potential — leaving the qualification picture wide open.
Mexico enjoy home advantage, South Korea and the Czech Republic boast genuine quality, and South Africa carry upset potential — leaving the qualification picture wide open.
Average ages for 2026 World Cup squads have been revealed, with South Africa, Spain and Norway all at 26.8 years old sharing sixth place, while Ivory Coast have the youngest squad.
Serbia opened the scoring, but Mexico scored four unanswered goals in the second half and benefited from two own goals, with Jiménez, Vázquez and Chaves also finding the net.
Mexico rallied for a victory to extend their unbeaten run to eight matches, while the Czech Republic and South Korea are gaining momentum, and South Africa have rescheduled their final warm-up against Jamaica.
Mexico face South Africa in the opening match of the 2026 World Cup, with group winners set to play every knockout round on home soil. FIFA rank them 15th under head coach Javier Aguirre.
South Africa pushed back their Jamaica friendly by 24 hours after arriving in Mexico a day late; kickoff is set for 23:00 with no television coverage; left-back Aubrey Modiba could miss out with a hamstring injury.
Mexico head coach Javier Aguirre says he still cannot shake being knocked out by South Africa at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations; one week on, his side face Bafana Bafana at the Azteca in strong form.
Hugo Broos will send out his strongest lineup against Jamaica for a final test run ahead of South Africa's June 11 opener against Mexico.
Mexico have unveiled their final squad, with Javier Aguirre set to lead the side into their opening match against South Africa on June 11; FIFA will officially confirm all 48 team squads on June 2.
Iran's ambassador to Mexico thanked the country for hosting the national team's World Cup delegation base. The squad will be based in Tijuana and travel to the United States on match days for three Group G fixtures.
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