Group A's General Discussion Thread

This group seems pretty homogeneous in term of level but I voted for the hosting country.
It's also a wish cause I like their colors

 

I think this is a fairly straight forward group for Mexico. Mexico has went through some rough cycles the past years but I feel they've gotten better and are back to being pretty decent team. Now this ain't the Mexico of 2014 World Cup, but I feel likely comparable to 2010 and 2018 World Cups when looking at the squad.

South Korea vs Czech Republic battles for second and third. I feel like South Korea has the edge to make second place, but the Czechs could surprise us. South Korea have some talent but they are not managed very well. I think South Korea still takes second but it's very close.

South Africa I feel is very overrated and I do not expect much from them at all. Lucky if they get a point. Arguably the second weakest CAF team in the tournament after Cape Verde.

 

Better than Tunisia? I really don't think so. I feel Tunisia is a bit more organized and have some threats in attack.

 

It is pretty much set up for Mexico with all other teams battling for second.

The only thing that makes me hesitate to say Mexico is 100% guaranteed to win the group is their Keeper situation. If the dude from Club America were healthy then that would make it easier but the other options do not seem as great.

 

If South Korea had been a bit less erratic in the past year or two I'd be on them. I don't buy the idea of an El Tri revival, though I think they should be back in gear by Copa America '28-'30 if they can continue to unplug their developmental pipeline that seemed to get completely stuck from about '15 or '16-'24 or thereabouts. I like South Korea's odds to take the group from that perspective. I also liked South Africa as a real long shot but they just haven't impressed at all in the past year, I get the sense if this had been a '24 cycle instead of '26 we might have seen an upset, but they stumbled in the second half of qualifying and nearly lost control of their group and just havent impressed in friendlies. In the AFCON they seemed okay, but nothing special, beat Angola by a goal, lost to Egypt, beat Zimbabwe on a late goal, then lost to Cameroon. I can't tell if they got dominated by Cameroon early and Cameroon then played defense (because South Africa has the better attacking #'s for the most part), but that's what it kind of looks like (Cameroon up 2-0, South Africa score just before injury time in the 2nd half to make it respectable). We'll see, but not terribly impressive.

I don't see anything in the Czech's performances to give me confidence, and I have really liked the Czech team for decades just in a sporting sense/fandom, but I look at them, and they look like they qualified largely by default (like the Swedes, who were horrific in qualifying, and skated through due to a mix of stupid rules (Nations League spots) and a user friendly playoff matchup against a weak side)....but man, Faroe Islands, freaking Faroe Islands made a game of it, beating the Czechs in qualifying, finishing just 4 points behind them, the other group foes were even worse (Montenegro and Gibraltar), so the Czech entry in the playoffs might have been the easiest qualifying campaign outside of Oceania. Their playoff match up was against a completely imploding Danish side, that finished their banana peel stepping on a rake dance, managing to lose 3 consecutive matches to conclude qualifying, any win in any of those games, all against inferior ranked sides, would have sent the Danes through (they tied Belarus at home, then gave up two injury time goals to hand Scotland the direct ticket, then choked on penalties to hand the ticket to the Czechs).....So was this the Czech's kicking butt, or just them being gifted a joke group (aging Croatia, and absolute hot garbage otherwise, plus an imploding Denmark for the playoff after they knocked out Ireland).

So while they might surprise, there is no reason to expect it. They stunk in qualifying, needed the Irish and the Danes to completely choke (good job on their comeback against Ireland and taking advantage of a hopeless Denmark) to grab their ticket, and now are here, after largely uninspiring play in qualifying other than against Denmark, who themselves appeared to quit before rallying to force penalties before folding again. At the '04 Euro's, they weren't any better, giving up late goals to lose against Portugal and Turkey, tying Georgia, and finishing dead last in their group.

I'm spending too much time on the Czech's but its important to lay it out: they stunk at the Euro's (context would be that all 3 of their group stage matches were tied in injury time of the 2nd half, then they lost 2 of the 3 in said injury times, so there is that), and then stunk in WCQ, and then barely made it out of the playoff, largely due to the Irish choking, and then lining up to play a Danish team that was lining up a 3 step implosion the likes of which UEFA hasn't seen in decades (Denmark has 3 games, 2 at home, all against inferior sides, where a simple regulation win sends them to the world cup, and they choked in 2 of them horrifically, and struggled their way back in the final one, before folding on penalties)....so credit for the comeback by the Czech's in the playoff but that's basically two isolated games in March of quality, and nothing else of quality since Euro '21. So?

Oh, lets also not forget, these Eastern Europeans now have to travel to Mexico and open their tournament in Guadalajara. The saving grace for them is they open in a night game where it will be quite humid, but probably not too hot if they're reasonably lucky against a South Korean side perfectly at ease in heat and humidity, they then travel to Atlanta to play in that dome. That's the plus side. Atlanta will be hot and miserable in late June, but they will play in a domed stadium, so conditions will be fine, against South Africa, that's their chance for 3 points, and to make it out of the group THEY HAVE TO WIN THAT ONE. After that, they'll wrap the group at the freaking Azteca, which, luckily for them, is not quite as horrific and intimidating as it was to play Mexico back in the seventies, eighties, nineties, and aughts. It's not as severe, or as smoggy, but it is going to be humid, and warm (not hot as its a night game), it's a massive stadium, and it's played at altitude the likes of which the Czech's have zero familiarity. Azteca isn't traveling to Bolivia, Ecuador or Colombia, where they can host matches at exceptional altitudes, but it's brutal enough to really wreck teams that haven't experienced it before (7250 feetish, so basically similar height to some of the ski resorts in Lake Tahoe, though the peaks/black diamond runs typically start around 7500-9000 out here). I suppose the one thing they have going for them is that the roughest games are at night in Mexico, so they won't have to play like we did say in that '09 WCQ around noon in August, w/guys with swine flu lol, it was like 75-80 degrees, high humidity and 7250 feet.....

If I were to guess, the safe bet is:
1. Mexico
2.South Korea
3. Czech Republic
4. South Africa

but.....None of these teams have been great consistently the past few years, El Tri has been totally erratic (though better under this coach), South Korea got sabotaged by Klinsy before getting a bit of an uptick, the Czech's have largely sucked the past 5 years, South Africa played really well in '23 and '24, but not so well in '25 and early '26......

So go with the home team, maybe take a flyer on South Korea on longer odds, maybe if Czech's not to advance at all is a bet, that gets interesting, but that Atlanta game should give them some hope.

Wonder if South Africa can recapture their '23-'24 form? Doesn't seem likely, but I'd love it if they did.

 

Mexico has pride and will find a way to get first.

 

Croatia aging hot garbage? Lol Boy your insight is trully something else.

 

It is interesting because I’m not sure if Mexico are that super strong of a team. This definitely ain’t the 2014 World Cup Mexico, but I think they’ve improved from 2022, and maybe this Mexican team is comparable to Mexico 2018 World Cup! Thoughts? Is it fair to say this Mexican team is comparable strength wise to 2018 WC Mexico?

The truth is though Mexico are at home, and honestly South Korea and the Czech Republic really aren’t that good either these days. South Korea is OK and has some talent in certain areas, but they’re not managed the best.

Czech Republic has Schick, and the other advantage is that many players are used to playing together in their clubs, and have a decent rythemn; but they’re not really that good either. They’re well organized defensively and can be hard to break down, but that’s pretty much it, and usually it’s only a matter of time before a team breaks them down.

South Africa are weakest team in the group.

This is why it’s hard for me to look past Mexico winning this group, especially with home advantage.

 

Interesting. Has a World Cup team ever been allowed to wear a third kit in modern futbol?

 

Any players from Toluca or Tigers going to make the roster ?

 

I think they meant Croatia is aging AND that the rest of the teams in that qualification group were "hot garbage".