Mexico national team
They are being led by coach Javier Aguirre. Including the 2026 World Cup, they have participated in the world's biggest football tournament 18 times. Mexico's best achievement in this arena is reaching the quarter-finals of the 1970 and 1986 World Cups. In total, they have played 60 matches at the World Cup, winning 17 matches, drawing 15 matches, losing 28 matches.
South African national team
This African team is being led by coach Hugo Broos. Including this year's tournament, the South African team has participated in the World Cup 4 times after 1998, 2002 and 2010. They have not yet passed the group stage in previous tournaments, so their goal in this year's tournament is to get a ticket to the next round. According to statistics, the South African team has played 9 matches at the World Cup, with results of 2 wins, 4 draws, 3 losses, scored 11 goals, conceded 16 goals.
South Korean national team
The Korean national team is a familiar name at the World Cup, having continuously participated in this playground since 1986 to date. Currently, they are led by coach Hong Myung-bo, who used to wear the team's captain's armband at the 2002 World Cup. The best achievement of the Korean national team is reaching the semi-finals in the home tournament in 2002. To date, the Korean national team has played 38 matches at the World Cup, of which they won 7 matches, drew 10 and lost 21.
Czech Republic national team
The Czech Republic team (formerly the Czechoslovak team) is a famous name in world football history. They have won the World Cup runner-up titles in 1934 and 1962. In total, the Czech Republic team has participated in the World Cup 10 times. In the recent qualifiers, coach Miroslav Koubek's team struggled to defeat opponents in the play-offs to return to the World Cup after 20 years. Historically, the Czech Republic team has played 33 matches at the World Cup, of which they won 12 matches, drew 5 and lost 16.
Statistics
The South Korean national team will participate in the World Cup for the 11th consecutive time. Only the German, Argentine, Brazil and Spanish national teams have a longer consecutive series of matches.
Before being eliminated in the group stage of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the Mexican team set a record with seven consecutive eliminations in the round of 16.
The South African team will participate in the finals for the fourth time. The only time they did not win was in their first participation in 1998. Despite being eliminated early, Bafana Bafana defeated Slovenia (1-0) in 2002 and France (2-1) in 2010.
The Czech Republic is one of the three teams that have reached the World Cup final twice without ever being champions. Hungary has also failed twice in the finals (1938, 1954). The record for the most times reaching the final without winning the championship belongs to the Netherlands (1974, 1978, 2010).
Potential opponent in round of 32
The top team of Group A will face the third-placed team of one of the Groups C, E, F, H or I in Mexico City, while the runner-up will meet the runner-up of Group B in Los Angeles (USA). If the third-placed team of the group enters the top 8 strongest teams after the group stage, they will meet the top team of Group E or Group G in Boston or Seattle.
