FIFA World Cup 2026 Group A: Mexico in three-way tussle for top spot

Group A at the 2026 FIFA World Cup consists of one of the host nations, Mexico, alongside the Czech Republic, South Korea and South Africa.

Read below for my World Cup 2026 Group A predictions, in what looks like one of the most wide-open groups at the tournament.

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Mexico

FIFA world ranking: 15th

To win the group: 10/11

Mexico are infamous for their last-16 exits from the World Cup, suffering seven consecutive defeats at that stage before failing to get out of their group at Qatar 2022.

El Tri haven't won their group since South Korea & Japan 2002, but they're favourites to do so this year.

I have major doubts over this side, however.

While they will boast home advantage, their squads have been getting weaker and weaker over the past decade although friendly draws with Belgium (1-1) and Portugal (0-0) earlier this year may inspire some confidence in Javier Aguirre's charges.

Aguirre certainly has experience on his side, having led Mexico to the 2002 and 2010 finals, but he won't have the likes of prime Rafael Marquez, Andres Guardado or Guillermo Ochoa to call upon this time. Well, remarkably, 40-year-old Ochoa, now plying his trade at Cypriot side AEK Limassol, has been included in the final 26-man squad, but he's unlikely to feature.

Key player: Raul Jimenez

It's the obvious answer, and for good reason; this Mexico squad is severely lacking in star quality.

Yes, there are one or two exciting youngsters in the squad, notably 17-year-old Tijuana midfielder Gilberto Mora, while Genoa defender Johan Vasquez will be crucial at the back, but it's Fulham forward Raul Jimenez who will carry much of the attacking burden on his shoulders.

The 35-year-old may be in the latter stages of his career, but 28 goals across the last three Premier League campaigns isn't to be sniffed at, although four of his nine this season have come from the penalty spot.

Still, he's a man who knows where the goal is, and heading into the World Cup, the former Wolves and Atletico Madrid striker is third on Mexico's all-time scorer list with 44 goals, just two behind Jared Borgetti (46) and eight behind Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez (52).

Jimenez has represented his country at the three previous World Cups, but has failed to score in any of his six appearances, so you can imagine that he will be desperate to settle that score this year.

Prediction: Home support should help see El Tri through to the knockouts, but I think they'll struggle to get any further than the round of 32.

Football Odds

Czech Republic

FIFA world ranking: 41

To win the group: 12/5

Ivan Hasek helped the Czech Republic finish second in Group L, earning them a play-off spot, but he was deeply unpopular with supporters, and a 2-1 defeat to the Faroe Islands in their penultimate group game proved to be the final straw, leading to 74-year-old Miroslav Koubek's appointment.

Koubek got the Czechs over the line, inspiring penalty shootout victories over the Republic of Ireland and Denmark in the semi-final and final, respectively, of the play-offs.

Like Mexico, the Czech Republic are suffering from a lack of quality, with this current crop in no danger of being labelled the 'Golden Generation'.

Key player: Patrik Schick

Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick has enjoyed another productive season with Die Werkself, scoring 22 goals across the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and UEFA Champions League.

The 30-year-old was also integral to his country's World Cup qualification, scoring five times in the qualifiers. His most important strike came in the play-off semi-final victory over the Republic of Ireland in Prague, where the Czechs found themselves two goals down before Schick started their comeback, with Koubek's side salvaging a 2-2 draw before winning 4-3 on penalties.

Schick has never played at a World Cup before, but he has big-tournament experience, scoring five goals at Euro 2020 (played in 2021) to win the Silver Boot; he only missed out on the Golden Boot as he failed to register an assist, unlike Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, although it was the Czech who scored more goals from open play.

He also scored at Euro 2024, so he knows how to found the back of the net at big events.

Prediction: Can the Czech Republic overcome Mexico, South Korea and South Africa to win Group A? Yes. But how will they fare against better nations in the knockouts? I'm not holding out much hope for them.

Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek are past their prime, and while this could be a breakout tournament for Lyon's Pavel Sulc, who scored 11 goals in 27 Ligue 1 appearances this season, I'm not convinced they have enough defensive nous.

The Czechs have conceded twice in each of their last three competitive contests, and Croatia battered them 5-1 in Group L last June.

South Korea

FIFA world ranking: 25

To win the group: 7/2

South Korea stormed to a 12th World Cup, and an 11th consecutive one, by going unbeaten in qualifying.

The real test, though, comes at the finals, as they rarely face much opposition in qualifying, especially this time around with Japan, Australia, Iran and Saudi Arabia all kept away from the Taegeuk Warriors, who won Group B at a canter ahead of runners-up Jordan.

Friendly results over the past nine months haven't been too encouraging, though, with a 5-0 defeat to Brazil last October and a 4-0 loss to Ivory Coast in March particularly concerning.

Key Player: Son Heung-min

Who else?

Son Heung-min's powers may be fading, as underlined by a failure to find the net in any of his 12 MLS appearances for LAFC this year,  but he's turned provider for his club side, registering 12 assists, and he was prolific for South Korea in qualifying, scoring 10 goals in 13 games.

The 33-year-old is his country's joint-highest scorer at World Cups, tied with Park Ji-sung and Ahn Jung-hwan on three goals, so he will be desperate to make himself the outright leader in North America.

PSG midfielder Lee Kang-in and Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae are other notable names in Hong Myung-bo's 26-man squad, but it's Son who will shoulder the responsibility in attack.

Prediction: Like the aforementioned Czech Republic and Mexico, South Korea can qualify for the knockouts - remember, the top two teams, and eight of the 12 third-placed sides, will go through to the round of 32 - but from there, I don't hold out much hope for them.

The two other forwards included by Hong, FC Midtjylland's Cho Gue-sung and Besiktas' Oh Hyeon-gyu, have hardly been prolific at international level, and the former has struck just three times in 26 Danish league appearances this season. Combine that with Son's failure to score in Major League Soccer this year, and I have grave concerns over their forward line.

World Cup Odds

South Africa

FIFA world ranking: 60

To win the group: 11/1

South Africa are rank outsiders to win Group A, but Bafana Bafana will point towards a strong qualification campaign where they beat Nigeria to top spot in Group C, losing just twice; in fact, they lost just once on field, as they beat Lesotho 2-0 before they were sanctioned for fielding an ineligible player, leading a FIFA disciplinary committed to award Lesotho a 3-0 win.

At this year's Africa Cup of Nations, Hugo Broos, who has been in charge since 2021, led South Africa to second place in Group B, a point behind winners Egypt, and they were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Cameroon in the last 16.

Bafana Bafana have appeared at three previous World Cups, in 1998, 2002 and 2010, the latter a home tournament, but are yet to make it out of the group stage, winning just two of their nine combined games (D4, L3).

Key Player: Lyle Foster

Burnley forward Lyle Foster has endured a rather forgettable last two seasons at club level, scoring just twice in 28 Championship appearances in 2024/25 and netting just three times in 26 Premier League outings this term, but he scored two of South Africa's six goals at the recent AFCON and has a one-in-three record for his country (10 goals in 30 caps).

The 25-year-old may be lacking confidence after a rotten 2026 with the relegated Clarets, but he's South Africa's most talented attacker and can be the main man for his country this summer.

Prediction: I don't think South Africa are a million miles behind the rest of Group A, but if I'm backing one team to finish bottom, it's Bafana Bafana, who scored just 15 times in 10 qualifiers, the joint-fewest of any African nation to reach this year's World Cup finals.

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