World Cup Thursday: Mexico vs South Korea and Key Matchups
The World Cup rolls into Thursday with the tournament already crackling: shocks on the pitch, history for African debutants, a Golden Boot race lit by Lionel Messi – and a schedule that does not let up.
Four games, four very different subplots. One day that could tilt several groups.
The day’s fixtures
At the heart of it all sits Mexico against South Korea in Guadalajara, a clash between two sides who opened with wins and now stare at a fast track to the knockouts.
Before that, three other ties will shape the rhythm of the day:
- Czechia vs South Africa – Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta – noon (16:00 GMT)
- Switzerland vs Bosnia and Herzegovina – Los Angeles Stadium, Los Angeles – noon (19:00 GMT)
- Canada vs Qatar – Vancouver Stadium, Vancouver – 3pm (22:00 GMT)
- Mexico vs South Korea – Guadalajara Stadium, Guadalajara – 7pm (01:00 GMT Friday)
Each match carries its own weight. Some are about survival. Some about statement wins.
Mexico vs South Korea: history on Mexico’s side
Mexico know this script well. They have faced South Korea twice at World Cups and won both times, including that tense 2-1 victory in Russia 2018.
The numbers lean their way again. Opta’s supercomputer ran the Group A meeting 25,000 times and landed on El Tri as clear favourites: Mexico win in 49.1 percent of simulations, South Korea in 24.3 percent, with 26.6 percent ending level.
Both teams arrive with three points already in their pockets. Both know a win here would all but drag them into the knockouts. Mexico carry the history and the odds. South Korea carry the speed, the energy, and the memory of past upsets.
Something has to give under the lights in Guadalajara.
Czechia vs South Africa: contrasting histories collide
Czechia and South Africa barely know each other on this stage. Just one previous meeting, no deep rivalry, no scars to lean on.
South Africa do, however, bring a quietly impressive record against European sides at World Cups. They famously beat France 2-1 on home soil in 2010 and have lost only one of their last four such encounters.
Czechia’s own history against African opposition is far less flattering: a 2-0 defeat to Ghana in their only previous World Cup meeting.
Even so, the model leans heavily towards the Europeans. Opta’s projections give Czechia a 54.9 percent chance of victory, with South Africa at 21.8 percent and the draw at the margins. The numbers say one thing. South Africa’s track record of awkward questions for European opponents suggests another.
Switzerland vs Bosnia: first World Cup meeting, familiar faces
Switzerland and Bosnia and Herzegovina have never met at a World Cup. Their only previous encounter came in a Zurich friendly in 2016, when Bosnia walked away 2-0 winners thanks to Edin Dzeko and Miralem Pjanic.
That night belongs to Bosnia’s memory. The present, though, tilts sharply towards Switzerland.
Opta’s supercomputer makes the Swiss strong favourites: they win 61.6 percent of simulations, Bosnia just 17 percent, with a draw in 21.4 percent. Switzerland arrive with tournament know-how and depth. Bosnia arrive chasing another upset to match that night in Zurich, this time on the biggest stage.
Canada vs Qatar: hosts backed by history
Canada step into Vancouver Stadium with more than home support behind them. History is on their side.
On three previous occasions a World Cup host has faced an Asian confederation team, the hosts have won every time: Mexico over Iraq in 1986, France over Saudi Arabia in 1998, Russia over Saudi Arabia in 2018.
Opta expects the pattern to hold. Canada win 72.9 percent of simulations, with a draw in 16.5 percent and Qatar given only a 10.6 percent chance of springing an upset.
For Canada, this is about momentum and validation. For Qatar, it is about tearing up the script.
Messi out front in a fierce Golden Boot race
The tournament’s first round has already turned the Golden Boot race into a sprint.
Lionel Messi has taken early control, his hat-trick against Algeria lifting him to three goals and placing him alone at the top of the chart.
One step back, a formidable chasing pack waits on two goals:
- Kylian Mbappe (France)
- Erling Haaland (Norway)
- Folarin Balogun (USA)
- Kai Havertz (Germany)
- Yasin Ayari (Sweden)
- Elijah Just (New Zealand)
- Harry Kane (England)
The names tell the story: stars from Europe, North America, Oceania and Africa all in the hunt. One round in, the race already feels like a heavyweight title fight.
DR Congo’s historic night
Some moments cut through the noise of a World Cup. DR Congo’s equaliser against Portugal was one of them.
Yoane Wissa, the Newcastle United forward, wrote his name into history by scoring the DRC’s first-ever World Cup goal. His second-half header in Houston wiped out Joao Neves’s early strike and secured a 1-1 draw against a side FIFA ranks fifth in the world.
It was the Leopards’ first World Cup appearance in 52 years. One point. One goal. A landmark that sent Congolese fans in the stadium and across the globe into celebration.
For a nation returning to the biggest stage after more than half a century, it felt like a statement as much as a result.
Colombia back with purpose
Colombia’s return to the World Cup has started with a familiar flair.
At Mexico City Stadium, they brushed aside debutants Uzbekistan 3-1, mixing control with cutting edge. Luis Diaz took centre stage, first setting up Daniel Munoz for the opener, then adding Colombia’s second after the interval.
Uzbekistan had their moment when Abbosbek Fayzullaev briefly levelled, but Colombia steadied, reasserted themselves and closed the game out.
The win hands Colombia an early lift in Group K as they chase a return to the knockout rounds after missing the 2022 edition in Qatar. It felt less like a tentative reintroduction and more like a reminder.
Early shocks: Cape Verde, DR Congo and Iran shake the bracket
The first round has not waited for drama.
Cape Verde’s 0-0 draw with Spain stands out as the biggest jolt so far. World Cup newcomers against one of the favourites, a team of tournament veterans held at arm’s length by a side playing its first match on this stage. One point, but a seismic one.
DR Congo’s 1-1 draw with Portugal joins that list of upsets, a result that may yet reshape Group K.
Iran’s 2-2 draw with New Zealand raised eyebrows for different reasons. Many expected Iran to control their Group G opener; instead, New Zealand stood firm and took a share of the points, adding another twist to an already unpredictable opening round.
A World Cup stitched together by diversity
Look across the squads and a clear picture emerges: this is a World Cup defined by variety – of backgrounds, of faiths, of stories.
Teams such as England, France, Spain and Sweden field players from a range of ethnic and cultural roots, with both Christian and Muslim footballers sharing the same dressing rooms, the same ambitions.
Spain’s teenage sensation Lamine Yamal and Sweden midfielder Yasin Ayari are part of a growing wave of Muslim players shaping the sport’s biggest tournament. They score, they pray in their own ways, they celebrate together. The image is simple, and powerful.
For many, these squads are a live answer to ongoing arguments over immigration, identity and integration across Europe: a reminder that a national shirt can be a shared project rather than a single story.
Ronaldo’s sixth World Cup starts with frustration
Cristiano Ronaldo has reached a landmark that only Lionel Messi shares: six World Cup appearances, stretching across eras and generations.
At 41, he remains central to Portugal’s plans. Yet his opening night in Group K ended in frustration. Several chances came his way in the second half against DR Congo; none found the net.
On a day when Messi, Mbappe, Haaland and Kane all scored in their first games, Ronaldo’s blank stood out. Portugal’s 1-1 draw leaves them chasing a response in their next fixture, and leaves their captain still searching for his first goal of this tournament.
Hydration breaks under the microscope
One of the World Cup’s most contentious innovations is not a new rule on the pitch, but a pause.
FIFA’s hydration breaks, brought in to help players cope with the summer heat in the US, Canada and Mexico, have sparked a fierce debate. Critics argue that the stoppages fracture the rhythm that makes football distinctive and hand coaches extra chances to tweak tactics.
The flashpoint came in Houston. Curacao scored against Germany just before a hydration break, only to concede twice before half-time and eventually lose 7-1. Former England striker Alan Shearer said the pause “killed their momentum”, while Roy Keane likened the breaks to timeouts, a concept more at home in basketball or American football.
FIFA insists the priority is player welfare. The argument over competitive balance and the sport’s flow is not going away.
Africa’s record presence – and the hurdles behind the scenes
Beneath the scorelines, a quieter revolution is taking shape. A record six sub-Saharan African nations are at this World Cup, more than ever before.
South Africa’s Bafana Bafana were first out, losing 2-0 to Mexico in the opener, but they are far from alone. Ghana’s Black Stars are back, a team that reached the quarterfinals in 2010 and stands alongside Cameroon (1990) and Senegal (2002) in African World Cup folklore. Senegal themselves have returned, while Ivory Coast appear at their first World Cup since 2014, now carrying two Africa Cup of Nations titles in their recent history.
Then there are the new, compelling stories. DR Congo, back for the first time since 1974, when the country competed as Zaire. Cape Verde, the Blue Sharks, making their debut and already drawing with Spain.
Many of their players were born in Europe, the product of a growing diaspora that now stretches across the US and Canada as well. That diaspora, more than three million strong in North America alone, is expected to flood the stands and provide a wall of sound for the continent’s representatives.
The journey has not been smooth. Some teams, officials and fans have wrestled with travel and visa issues. A requirement for some supporters with African passports to post $15,000 bonds to enter the United States – later scrapped – came too late for many to rearrange plans.
One symbol from Africa’s last home World Cup has also disappeared. The vuvuzela, the plastic horn whose constant buzz defined South Africa 2010, is banned this time. The soundtrack has changed. The ambition has not.
From Cape Verde’s defiance against Spain to DR Congo’s roar in Houston, Africa’s teams have already bent the narrative.
And with Thursday’s slate about to kick off, the question hangs over the tournament: which of them will still be reshaping it when the knockout rounds begin?
