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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
Key events
Last year’s US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley has made birdie at 15 to join the little group on 1-under. He won the Travelers Championship the week after last year’s US Open and was soon afterwards T7 in August’s Tour Championship. But that difficult Ryder Cup followed and he has not found a top 10 since.
Meanwhile, a solid blow to the heart of the 6th green for Rory McIlroy.
The answer to the pub quiz question (17.43)? It was “Which Continental European nation can (kind of) lay claim to 176 professional wins, including no less than 21 major championships?” The World Cup was the clue and the country has just drawn with South Africa.
We had multiple shouts for Germany and France. But the answer is Czechia and this is why: Bernhard Langer (126 professional wins, 2 majors, 12 senior majors) is the son of a Czech father. Alex Cejka (19 professional wins, 3 seniors majors) and his father fled Czechia by foot and water in a manner that calls to mind a John Le Carre plot. Sandra Gal (1 professional win) is the daughter of Czech parents. Jessica (6 professional wins) and Nelly Korda (24 professional wins, 4 majors) are the daughters of Czech parents. And Klara Spilkova (2 professional wins) actually is Czech. It’s obviously a sneakily trick question but it’s quite an intriguing one. Quietly, Prague might be a secret golfing hotspot. Nelly, of course, has just won the US Women’s Open.
Ludvig Åberg cannot make birdie at 5 and Stevens misses his par putt at 8. Rory McIlroy is two clear and only five golfers in this morning wave are currently under-par, as Rickie Fowler joins the small party.
-3: McIlroy (14*)
-1: Stevens (17*), Fowler (15), Åberg (14*), James (12*)
Suddenly, Rory McIlroy’s eagle putt could be for a two-shot lead. That’s because the leader Sam Stevens has 6 feet for par on his 17th hole of the day. So what of the Masters champion? He prowls the hole, settles behind the ball and then pops the putt over the front edge! He’s 3-under through 14 holes. It’s also a first US Open eagle for him in nine years. So far, at least, this is a great start.
Back to the par-5 5th and the wind is whistling again. Tommy Fleetwood and Ludvig Åberg find the edge of the green in two. But Rory McIlroy, with what David Howell suggests is an 8 or 9-iron, gets the ball to settle just 11 feet from the flag. A two-putt from there will tie the lead of Sam Stevens on 2-under. One putt will vault him into the lead all on his own.
This time last year the American Ethan Fang had just won the Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s in Sandwich. When told that his surname was gold for headline writers, he smiled and cried: “That’s the aim!” Alas, there will be no headlines for him today. Still an amateur, his opening round of 74 was solid though.
To the 597-yard par-5 5th. “I get the feeling Rory McIlroy is going to actually send this drive,” says Mel Reid and Paul McGinley adds that he suspects we will see a 400-yard drive this week. “We might just have seen it,” chuckles Ewen Murray. Nearly. 396 yards, in fact. It’s the easiest hole on the course today and a birdie would see him join the lead.
Last night Harry Kane said England’s opening World Cup encounter was a “game of two halves”. Tennessee’s Keith Mitchell is almost certainly unaware of the footballing cliché, but he’d understand. He played the back nine (his first) in 6-over and he’s 5-under through five holes of the front nine.
A potentially key moment for Tommy Fleetwood at 4. He’s 2-over and faced with a 20-foot par putt … and he makes it. Rory McIlroy then follows him in on the same line for another par, and he stays at 1-under. Ludvig Åberg cannot save his par from closer than both his playing partners. He drops back alongside the Northern Irishman.
This is not a day for the commentary team to speak too soon. Earlier, Paul McGinley said that JJ Spaun had safely found a green. Rich Beem was worried it would not stay there. And it didn’t, dribbling, one dimple at a time, into a bunker. Now McGinley praises Scottie Scheffler for finding the 11th green. Whereupon, you’ve guessed it, it slowly pootled into sand.
The US Open – a patience game both inside the ropes and inside the TV booth.
The 4th hole is the most difficult hole on the course today. It’s a 474-yard par-4 and Rory McIlroy gets lucky from the tee, avoiding the high rough, finding grass trodden-down by the galleries. But his blow from there gets very lucky as it squirts a long way right. It takes a huge hop on a path and looks like it might evoke memories of Richie Benaud’s famous commentary of Ian Botham’s six at Headingley in 1981 (“Into the confectionery stall … and out again”). But it somehow settles down on more trodden-down and sun-bleached dry grass. “A hard pan, tight lie,” says Mel Reid. “About 55 yards. All about strike this.” The result, a high pitch, is safe, but he has 15 feet for par.
Birdie for Sam Stevens at the par-5 5th. It gets him into a tie at the top on 2-under with Ludvig Åberg who misses a par-breaking chance from 15 feet at the 3rd (his 12th). Stevens is yet to win on either the first or second tier, but he is a three-time runner-up on the PGA Tour, including twice last year.
The Reitan tale was ill-timed – he promptly dropped a shot at 13. Better news for Rory McIlroy whose wedge approach at the 3rd (also his 12th) sets up a tap-in birdie to return to 1-under. He’s looking calm and controlled today. Scheffler, however, has missed yet another green at 10. All is not well with the World No. 1 – he’s 3-over and struggling to stay on that mark.
In early November 2024, Norway’s Kris Reitan was ranked 617 in the world and was playing on Europe’s second tier. He had only just decided to stick with tour golf rather than turn himself into a YouTube influencer. Turns out it was a good decision. A very good decision.
That month, he won the HotelPlanner Tour Grand Final. In May, he won the DP World Tour’s Soudal Open. He spent the rest of the year in superb form and claimed a PGA Tour card. Last month, he claimed the Truist Championship. He has overtaken his compatriot and friend Viktor Hovland in the world rankings (26 against 28). Today, he is contending in the US Open. Daft game, lovely tale.
The 10th hole trips up Patrick Reed and he drops out of a share of second. Updated leaderboard:
-2: Åberg (11*)
-1: Stevens (13*), Reitan (12*), Burns (12*) James (9*)
Only seven golfers have ever successfully defended the US Open. Brooks Koepka was the most recent man to do so, at Shinnecock Hills eight years ago. Last year’s winner JJ Spaun is being introduced to the difficulty of the task this week and is 3-over through eight holes.
As noted by Dave Tindall earlier, there are some lovely railroad sounds floating across the course this week. I’m a big fan of the mournful cry of an American train, but we’re also being treated to little toots and poops that are reminiscent of Manchester’s trams or the Island of Sodor. Fun fact: Charley Hull is a fan of Thomas the Tank Engine. We once shared our fondness for James and irritation with Gordon.
A fourth dropped shot in eight holes for Scottie Scheffler. The 8th is wide – 65 yards wide – and he missed it. He eventually makes a double bogey-6. He did circle a birdie at 5, but he’s 3-over for the day, and his quest for a Career Grand Slam-completing win this week has got off to a rough start.
It’s been a tough day for the Irish veteran Padraig Harrington. He said this week that, even in (genuine rather than golfing) old age, he could be wheelchaired out to a major championship and he’d still feel like he could win it. Can even his legendary resilience be thinking that right now? He’s played 11 holes and scratched a bogey on seven of those holes.
Ludvig Åberg has rattled in another birdie at the 1st (his 10th) to hit 2-under and he has the solo lead. Playing partner Tommy Fleetwood’s trousers are flapping away – and unfortunately so is his putter. A three putt bogey for him while Rory McIlroy opens their second nine with a par.
Weather update. TV’s Anna Jackson explains that we can expect gusts of up to 30mph and there is a possibility of rain, maybe heavy, and maybe involving thunder. So, more disruptions are likely, and we won’t be finishing the first round today. Leaderboard update:
-1: Stevens (12*), Reitan (11*), Burns (9*), Reed (8), Åberg (9*), James (7*)
(11 players on level-par and another 13 on +1 )
Here’s a pub quiz question for you. Which Continental European nation can (kind of) lay claim to 176 professional wins, including no less than 21 major championships? Two clues: the majors include senior majors, and the nation is playing in the World Cup.
The last time Tommy Fleetwood played the 18th hole at Shinnecock Hills, he had an 8-foot putt for a 62. Alas, he missed it, and his 63 came up one shot shy of forcing extra holes with Brooks Koepka. This time his approach comes up shy of the green and he chips close enough to secure his par. A level-par first nine for the Englishman.
Rory McIlroy leaves his birdie putt on the edge – a level-par first nine for him, too. Ludvig Åberg found the heart of the green but his birdie putt came up 5 feet shy and he … makes it! He stays 1-under through 9.
Mel Reid on TV reveals that she’s just had a word with Rory McIlroy about conditions. His response? “Not bad.” His reasoning? The wind is consistent rather than swirling or gusting. We can hear it on TV, whistling around the mics.
I’ve just taken a spin down the leaderboard. There are 33 Europeans in the field. Consider this: 50 years ago there was only one European in the field – Peter Oosterhuis. Imagine telling that generation how things would change. And imagine telling them that there’d be a first Icelandic golfer playing in 2026.
The Belgian Adrien Dumont de Chassart is nicely placed on level-par through 10. It’s a wonderfully aristocratic name and fits nicely alongside the DP World Tour’s Nicolai Von Dellingshausen (Germany) and Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño (Spain). They sound like the signatories of the 1625 Treaty of Bruges.
Bogey for Åberg at the par-3 17th and we have a five-way tie for the lead on 1-under. Any score in the red today will be a very fine one. Tyrrell Hatton might be up against that target. He’s just hooked an approach into a grandstand. It’s popped out onto scrubland, but he smashes his club down into his bag in frustration.
A double bogey for Brooks Koepka at 8. It always used to be his great secret to playing the US Open (he won it back-to-back in 2017 and 2018, the latter on this week’s course) – avoiding making double bogeys. Modern day Koepka can’t quite manage it and he’s 1-over for the day.
“I’m almost beginning to feel sorry for these guys out here,” says Mel Reid, on-course reporter. “Almost but not quite. It’s really quite nasty out here,” she adds. The Englishwoman has been a really good addition to TV coverage: smart, strong delivery, a nice line in humour.
Ouch. Aussie Cameron Smith – the 2022 Open champion, remember – was pummelled by the 180-yard par-3 7th. His tee shot found sand. So did his second shot. And his third could only find the fairway. His fourth left him 16 feet from the hole and he missed the putt. Smith is now 5-over through 8.
From thick rough 120 yards short of the 620-yard 16th, Tommy Fleetwood has thrashed at the ball with his third blow. It’s not pretty, playing into a blustery wind, but the swing was under control and he has crafted it beautifully to about 10 feet from the flag. Not much in the way of reaction from the galleries but that was the equivalent of sticking a 200-yard shot to 12 inches in a normal PGA Tour week. Can he make the putt and get to level-par for the day? Yes he can!
An update of the leaderboard and Patrick Reed has joined the handful of players under-par. The 7th green is already causing problems, by the way. Balls are oscillating and, if the wind picks up, that might cause a delay to the action. We don’t want that – it should have been both predicted and acted on.
-2: Åberg (6*)
-1: Koepka (7), Reitan (7*, Burns (7*), Reed (5), McIlroy (6*), James (4*), Onishi (3)
At the 620-yard 16th Rory McIlroy clears a bunker from the tee but finds a horrible lie. His feet are perched on a nasty slope high above the sand and there is thick, swaying rough all around him. He hacks it down the fairway. Mel Reid is reporting from the course and notes that the bunker would have been easily cleared in practice. The wind is testing the field – and it is forecast to become more of a factor as the day wears on.
A bogey for Sam Burns at 7 leaves Ludvig Åberg alone at the top o 2-under.
“This is not a true links, but it’s playing like one,” says David Howell as he joins the TV coverage. Ewen Murray is suggesting that 73 will be a good score today and that seems to be a widely held view. The course has been watered, there was fog early and yet the greens are still not receptive so it’s going to get tougher as the day goes on.
Clean cut Ludvig Åberg finds a birdie at 15 by rattling in a 30-foot putt at pace to get to 2-under and join Sam Burns at the top of the leaderboard. Playing partner Rory McIlroy didn’t learn about the line and makes par to stay at 1-under. Tommy Fleetwood cannot save his par and slips to 1-over.
Back on the front nine, Scottie Scheffler joins Fleetwood on 1-over after a bogey.
Scottie Scheffler finds the hay to the right of the 4th. Camera footage from directly above the World No. 1 is remarkable, showing him thrashing the ball from long fescue grass that is swaying in the wind. He misses the green and clips his pitch to the heart of the green, but is not threatening the hole – he’s fighting to make par..
Rory McIlroy found the 1th (his 5th) green. But stopping his lengthy birdie putt was tricky. Like Fleetwood’s approach, there was no resistance in the putting surface and it slips 6-feet by the hole. He makes the par, however. Fleetwood completes his up-and-down for another par. The third man in the group Ludvig Åberg drains a 10-footer for another four.
Tommy Fleetwood, dressed in three shades of beige, takes aim at the green on 5. He and caddie Ian Finnis talked long and hard about the challenge. The ball intially found the putting surface but there was no resistance and the ball just didn’t want to stop. It was like knocking a ball down the M6 and hoping to stop it by the entrance to Sandbach Services. Alas it slipped on and on, leaving him a tricky pitch back to the pin.
Thanks Dave. Sam Burns has flirted with quite a few major championship first round leads in recent times. Dave noted (15.55) that he was right in the thick of things in last year’s US Open. He was also the first round pace setter in this year’s Masters and one shot back of the 54 hole lead in the 2024 Open. Such log books always beg two questions: 1. Is he learning lessons about contending? Or 2. Is there scar tissue?
Meanwhile, at the 523-yard par-4 5th, Rory McIlroy pipes a wonderful drive down the right side of the fairway.
A three-year-old boy was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital with critical injuries and is in a stable condition, Cambridgeshire Police said.
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The deaths of teenagers Kyrees Sullivan and Harvey Evans sparked hours of violence and vandalism.
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