Czechia vs South Africa Preview: Team News & Prediction | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Group Stage
Having both succumbed to opening game defeats on the first day of FIFA World Cup 2026, the third game in Group A sees Czechia take on South Africa at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – BBC / USA – FOX Sports
How to watch online: UK – BBC iPlayer & the BBC Sport website & app / USA – FOX One
Czechia preview: Frustrated in their opener
In their opening game, an uneventful first-half against the Korea Republic was followed by a second-half that burst into life early on with captain Ladislav Krejci scoring from a set-piece. The Czechs then conceded just before the second-half hydration break with a smart finish scored by Hwang In-beom. Tomas Soucek appeared to have re-established the Europeans' lead but that header was disallowed before Hwang then provided an excellent assist for Oh Hyeon-gyu to snatch all three points.
As was the case in qualification, whereby the Czechs scored the most goals in UEFA qualifying from set-pieces, the Central Europeans were again reliant on set-pieces for any source of attacking prowess against the Koreans. Miroslav Koubek will want them to provide more for Patrik Schick in open play but they do appear to be a fairly reactive and cautious outfit this summer.
South Africa preview: A disastrous start
Having survived an early scare from a Raul Jimenez strike, the South Africans then succumbed to a Phephelo Sithole mistake, caught by Erick Lira inside the opening ten minutes, allowing for Julian Quinones to fire through the legs of Ronwen Williams. The shaky Williams continued to be fairly loose in possession as the Mexicans peppered Bafana Bafana early on in the second half before Sithole then received a red card for a challenge as last man on Brian Gutierrez.
Jimenez did then eventually notch a header to seal a 2-0 win for Mexico before key man Themba Zwane, who came off the bench for Hugo Broos' outfit, was sent off for violent conduct. In a fairly remarkable sequence of events, Cesar Montes was then also red carded for El Tri, adjudged to have denied South Africa a goal scoring opportunity for a foul on South Africa right-back Khuliso Mudau just outside of the box.
Czechia team news: Consistency will be key
Further team news will appear here closer to the match after pre-match press conferences...
Miroslav Koubek is clearly wedded to the style of football that he believes will help the Czechs squeeze themselves into the knockout stages and so it wouldn't be a surprise to see them go with the same approach.
That is reliant on a back-three system with Schick supported by Pavel Sulc and Lukas Provod in the final third. Michal Sadilek could potentially come in for Alexandr Sojka in the middle of the park after a fairly poor performance from the Viktoria Plzen man.
Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Kovar; Chaloupek, Hranac, Krejci; Coufal, Soucek, Sadilek, Zeleny; Sulc, Provod; Schick
Unavailable:
Questionable:
South Africa team news: Pressure to tweak the system
Further team news will appear here closer to the match after pre-match press conferences...
Hugo Broos produced a surprise in the opener as he went with quite a cautious line-up that excluded key men Themba Zwane and Oswin Appollis from the starting eleven and now the former is missing through suspension, alongside Phephelo Sithole.
Broos may well become more proactive once again and bring Appollis in the eleven. They will likely also still stick with Burnley striker Lyle Foster, albeit the versatile forward did struggle, seemingly with nerves, in the opener against Mexico.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Williams; Mudau, Okon, Mbokazi, Modiba; Mbatha, Mokoena; Rayners, Adams, Appollis; Foster
Unavailable: Sithole (Suspended), Zwane (Suspended)
Questionable:
Czechia’s top FIFA World Cup Fantasy assets
Vladimir Coufal ($3.6m) – Defender
Tomas Soucek ($5.6m) – Midfielder
Patrik Schick ($7.3m) – Forward
Matchday 2 captain pick: Patrik Schick
Set-piece duty
Penalties: Patrik Schick, Tomas Soucek
Free kicks: Pavel Sulc
Corners: Lukas Provod, Vladimir Coufal
South Africa’s top FIFA World Cup Fantasy assets
Aubrey Modiba ($3.7m) – Defender
Teboho Mokoena ($4.3m) – Midfielder
Lyle Foster ($5.4m) – Forward
Matchday 2 captain pick: Lyle Foster
Set-piece duty
Penalties: Tehobo Mokoena, Oswin Appollis
Free kicks: Oswin Appollis
Corners: Oswin Appollis, Relebohile Mofokeng
Key stats
- This is the first FIFA World Cup match between Czechia and South Africa. Their only previous encounter was a 2-2 draw in the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup group stage.
- Czechia have lost their last three FIFA World Cup matches; defeat here would equal their longest ever sequence of successive losses in the competition — four in a row — a run they endured twice as Czechoslovakia.
- Ladislav Krejčí, Czechia's goalscorer in their opening match against Korea Republic, has now netted in all three of their competitive fixtures in 2026, having also found the net in the World Cup play-off encounters against the Republic of Ireland and Denmark in March.
- South Africa have found the net in their last four FIFA World Cup matches against European teams.
- South Africa have never lost successive FIFA World Cup matches.
- This encounter pits two of the three oldest coaches in FIFA World Cup history against one another. Czechia's Miroslav Koubek, aged 74 years and 290 days, and South Africa's Hugo Broos, aged 74 years and 69 days, are second and third on that list respectively — surpassed only by Curaçao's Dick Advocaat, who took charge of their match against Germany on 14 June 2026 at the age of 78 years and 260 days.
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Czechia vs South Africa prediction
The clash of styles should make a decent fight in their second game here, especially with both teams needing to get a crucial victory in the Atlanta clash. The Czechs will again likely allow the South Africans, as was the case with Korea Republic, to have more of the ball and that should allow Bafana Bafana some opportunities in the final third - and they did create some openings against Mexico, albeit profligate in possession.
The Czechs' nous and, crucially, their ability from set-pieces should make them tough opposition for the depleted South Africans and the loss of Zwane may well be crucial in terms of just how potent South African can be - albeit a slight shift in their mentality should still help them out. Czechia do have to remain favourites but it may be quite a good watch for the neutral.
Czechia vs South Africa betting tip: Czechia to win & both teams to score
