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Czechia v South Africa: World Cup – live | World Cup 2026
Key events
27 min We’re away again, SA right back on to the attack and Appollis punching a good straight pass into Rayners, on the edge. But when he spins and squares, Mbatha can’t collect, so the move breaks down.
24 min “What is salad cream? Signed, America,” emails Charles Pearson.
Something on to which it’d be difficult to melt cheese, so I can understand why it’s unfamiliar Stateside.
23 min Time for a Bovril break, the crowd booing righteously. Good, the more Fifa hear of that the better, except the relevant suits are probably watching the ads.
22 min It’s just occurred to me that, excited to even consider salad cream, I neglected to wish Bob’s wife better, so let’s do that now. Meantime, SA continue probing, Kovar thrashing forward to no one when their latest attack founders.
20 min I’m not sure if Czechia planned to sit back if they scored, if they’re doing it feart to lose what they have, or if SA are pushing them back; my sense is the second, with a bit of the third. But they looked much better when pushing the pace.
18 min Not that long ago, Anya Hindmarch sold salad cream ice cream. It wasn’t that good.
17 min “Salad cream, Daniel?” intones a disappointed Charles Antaki. “Please tell us you were teasing. If not, then well done for giving it up – the prodigal son and all that – but what were you thinking? Crown Paints Sahara Beige, with added sugar.”
I like excessive tastes – sour, spicy, tangy – and salad cream is the latter. If I’m picking one condiment to slap on a slice of toast, that’s my one.
15 min SA enjoy possession, which makes them more cultured than me – I couldn’t get on with S Byatt’s prose, at all – and move the ball right, Modiba into Adams, who spreads to Mudau. And the cross is a goodun, Rayners charging towards it and leaping, but able only to shin wide.
13 min The corner is poor and when the ball comes to Modiba, 1,623 yards out, he takes aim, and fires somewhere towards Maine.
12 min SA have realised there’s a game on, and that they’re in it. They get the ball wide down the right, Maseko moving it infield to Appollis, who shoots from 25, there’s a deflection … and the net ripples. But because the effort brushed the side and roof, not because it’s in.
11 min “An unhealthy diet of football,” reckons Bob O’Hara. “I’m sat here with my wife in hospital watching the match and she just suggested this is the mustard & ketchup match.”
Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I love mustard and ketchup, all the more so since I quit salad cream.
9 min My screen crashes, but Czechia have started well – they’re passing and moving really nicely, and now SA have a bit of the ball their defensive shape blankets the attack in no time.
7 min That was a really lovely goal, but SA only had one man back; once again, I’m not at all sure what they’re trying to accomplish.
GOAL! Czechia 1-0 South Africa (Sadilek 5)
That was coming because, once again, SA have started like they’d rather be home. Coufal takes a throw quickly, hurling low and towards the by-line for Hlozek, who sweeps back to the edge. Mudau might do better to cut it out, but the touch from Sojka, who might shoot, but instead slips a dainty pass around the defender, allowing Sadilek to power a dink over Williams’ dive.
5 min Williams comes for the corner, doesn’t get to the ball, and when the ball falls to Sadilek on the edge, he’s relieved the shot is off target.
5 min Sadilek swings over to Coufal, pulling out of the box on the far side, and his volley back in is knocked behind for a corner.
3 min Czechia, though, have started fairly well, quickly winning a corner … which comes to nothing. But they build again, Darida showing nice feet to invite the challenge and win the free-kick, 30 yards out, left of centre.
1 min Immediately, Cerv spreads wide, then Sojka spoons over a cross … and when no defender cuts it out, suddenly Schick has a free header at the back post! But it’s as though he can’t believe it’s happening, or even allowed for him to be so alone, so he nods a tame effort that’s barely an effort at all, into the ground, and Williams saves. That was a great chance, it fell to who Czechia would’ve wanted it to … and nothing.
1 min Hold tight Tori Penso, only the second woman to ref a men’s World Cup match; she gets us going.
“Czechia v South Africa, could be a dogs breakfast,” enthuses Mary Waltz. “But if one of these wins today they have a chance at the knockout round. Some complain about the expanded roster but in the old set up I would probably skip this fixture. Poor teams playing desperate football can be entertaining.”
It’s hard to grouse about the expanded field because it gives us the teams riding the phattest buzz to be involved, which can deliver amazing moments and matches. And ultimately, many of us are hopeless football addicts, delighted to guzzle our fix wherever we find it, meaning more is more.
I wonder how Sphephelo Sithole is getting on – he had the mare of mares last time out, culpable in Mexico’s first goal before getting sent off. I hope he’s managed to assimilate it into his being and move on.
Anthem time…
The Atlanta roof is closed and the aircon on. Maybe they’ll hydrate with Bovril.
Ah, our teams are tunnelled … and here they come!
I’m a little surprised Czechia have left out Soucek, whose set-piece presence has always been a big part of their attacking threat. Hlozek, who’s come in, is also a big lad, but its not just about height but attacking the ball and anticipating where it might drop – at which Soucek is a master.
On BBC, Benni McCarthy was just saying that in SA, people were mainly disappointed by the negativity. And he’s not wrong – I’m sure this wasn’t the plan, and can understand that an opening match, against the host, in the Azteca, is a daunting proposition, but it looked like they turned up hoping not to get splattered, rather than believing they’d win.
How good was this? It’s so great to get that kind of insight and honesty – then know it’s been effectively communicated because the response was so intense.
My best guess is England’s defence costs them eventually – and much as I think Thomas Tuchel is excellent, the back four he picked isn’t, for mine, the best one he could’ve picked – but in midfield, they can compete with anyone, and their attacking options are also up with everyone bar France’s.
Where is the game? Czechia will, I think, look to dominate midfield, looking to get the ball forward quickly then hit Hlozek and Schick with crosses or ball to feet for an up, back and through, one of them holding the ball before laying it off for it to go forward again.
South Africa, meanwhile, will look for quick counters, especially in behind the wingers and down the outside of the outside centre backs, with Adams and Mokoena making third-man runs beyonds Rayners and into the box.
Email! “This is a bittersweet game for me,” confesses John Brennan. “When the draw was made in December, this was the most likely game that I could get to see Ireland play. I probably couldn’t have pulled off going to Mexico but getting from NY to Atlanta would have been reasonable. The stadium would have been packed with Irish fans between Irish living here on the East Coast and people travelling. Just thinking about it makes me wistful. What if Ryan Manning didn’t give away that stupid penalty, what if Parrott had scored that chance in the second half, what if Sammy Smzodics hadn’t been taken out of it and had been able to take a penalty instead of Alan Browne. And yeah if all those things had happened and Ireland beat Czechia, it would probably be Denmark playing today.
Anyway, I have a strange feeling South Africa might show up today and make it difficult for the Czechs or maybe that is just a coping mechanism for me.”
I feel you – but the buzz of those Parrott goals to get to there will never leave you.
Who wants a bit of Mike Costello? Do I hear a hells to the yeah?!
South Africa, meanwhile, are without Sithole and Zwane, sent off against Mexico; left our are Sibisi and Foster, with Mbatha, Maseko and Rayners coming in. They move from the 5-3-2 which put them under pressure last week to a far more natural 4-3-3.
A strange change from Czechia, who add Holes to their defence – he replaces Chaloupek – while Soucek, Zeleny, Provod and Sulc also drop out. Others to come in are Sadilek, Darida, Cerv and Hlozsek; Miroslav Koubek must’ve seriously disliked what he saw. I also think there’ll be a formation change from 3-4-3 to 3-5-2.
Before we look at those teams, also going on:
Teams!
Czechia (3-5-2): Kovar; Hranac, Holes, Krejci; Coufal, Sadilek, Darida, Cerv, Sojka; Hlozek, Schick. Subs: Chaloupek, Chory, Chytil, Doudera, Hornicek, Kuchta, Provod, Sochurek, Soucek, Stanek, Visinksy, Zeleny, Zima, Sulc.
South Africa (4-3-3): Williams; Mudau, Okon, Mbokzai, Modiba; Mokoena, Mbatha, Adams; Maseko, Rayners, Appollis. Subs: Chaine, Cross, Foster, Goss, Kabini, Makgopa, Makhanya, Mataludi, Mofokeng, Moremi, Ndamane, Sebelebele, Sibisi.
Referee: Tori Penso (USA)
Preamble
Mike Costello, the legendary boxing commentator, tells a story of when he was fresh in the game, an old pro heard him getting dead excited calling a fight that wasn’t Hagler-Hearns, so issued some advice: always leave yourself somewhere to go.
For those of us involved in a similar kind of thing, this is an important lesson, but one easier grasped than lived – especially during the World Cup and even more so during this World Cup. How not to unload the suitcase – and why not unload the suitcase – when Curaçao equalise against Germany, Cape Verde force a draw with Spain and DRC equalise against then draw with Portugal? For them – and so for us, sport being the experience of living your life through others – this is their Hagler-Hearns, so it makes more sense to trust you’ll find somewhere to go than not turn up somewhere you desperately need to be.
Which is to say we’ve enjoyed a sensational first week and round of football – but Czechia and South Africa have not, enduing the respective agonies of a soul-crushing late winner conceded and a total no-show dropped. But the structure of the competition is in their favour, a defeat today terminal for neither – though with final-round matches against Mexico and South Korea upcoming, a win feels essential for both.
Kick-off: 12pm local and EDT, 5pm BST, 2am AEST
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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