The 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup turns a page as all teams will begin playing their second games and with that true storylines are emerging. Some teams will be pushing for qualification, while others will be hoping to stay alive. Czechia and South Africa begin the day as both Group A teams come off an opening loss and need to win to realistically keep their knockout hopes alive. Switzerland and Bosnia and Herzegovina then face off in the second game as the Swiss look to rebound from an embarrassing draw in its Group B opener while the Bosnians look to take a step towards their first ever knockout. The third game takes us to Vancouver, where Group A co-hosts Canada need a win over Qatar, which is lucky to be entering this game with a point. The nightcap will take place in Guadalajara, where Group B co-host Mexico takes on South Korea and what should be an entertaining game between two teams who impressed in their respective opening wins. When: Thursday, June 18, 12 p.m. ETWhere: AtlantaTV: FOXStream: Watch three days free on FOX One The 48-team format can be forgiving with eight of 12 third-place teams advancing to the knockouts, but a lot is at stake as Czechia takes on South Africa on Thursday at Atlanta Stadium. Both teams lost their respective Group A opening games and the winner of this game has a clear path to advance while the loser seems likely to go home after the group stage. Czechia dropped its opening game to South Korea by a 2-1 scoreline. While South Korea had most of the chances in the game, Czechia scored first and was always in the game because of its ability to score from set pieces. Throughout its qualifying campaign and into UEFA’s playoff round, Czechia scored 11 of its 22 goals on set pieces. Then against South Korea, team captain Ladislav Krejcí headed home the opener. Against South Africa, Czechia will again look to dominate on set pieces while also aiming to create more from the run of play. Against a South Africa team that has been vulnerable in the back and tactically sits deep against good opponents, the chances should be there for Czechia from the run of play as well. For South Africa, confidence could be a concern after an especially poor performance in its 2-0 loss to Mexico in the opening game. Bafana Bafana was never in the game from the start, but it only got worse when Sphephelo Sithole was sent off in the 49th minute, followed by Themba Zwane in the 84th minute. Now South Africa will be without a starting defensive midfielder in Sithole and a key attacking sub in Zwane. South Africa enters this game as the underdogs against Czechia. South Africa is winless in its five games in 2026 and the World Cup is typically a difficult stage to reverse a skid. Both teams should be on the front foot looking to get control of this game as a draw does not help either team. Player to Watch The Bayer Leverkusen forward is the focal point of Czechia’s forward line with 26 international goals in 53 caps. While Schick is one of Czechia’s many set piece targets, he has a variety of ways in which he can score. Czechia needs to be more of a threat from the run of play and that starts with Schick. With Bayer Leverkusen, nearly all of Schick’s 16 Bundesliga goals and four Champions League goals this season were from the run of play. Czechia should be aggressive from the early going and look to get Schick involved. If Schick plays well, it could be a good day for Czechia. When: Thursday, June 18, 3 p.m. ETWhere: Los AngelesTV: FOXStream: Watch three days free on FOX One After first round of games in Group B, all four teams are sitting at one point. On Thursday, Switzerland takes on Bosnia and Herzegovina at Los Angeles Stadium in a game where both teams likely have a different mindset following draws in their respective opening games. Switzerland enters this game after an extremely disappointing performance in a 1-1 draw with Qatar. Throughout the entire game, Switzerland was wasteful and missed chance after chance from the run of play. The Swiss only found the back of the net through a Breel Embolo penalty. Switzerland outshot Qatar 26-6 and had a 42-8 edge in touches in the opposing box. In the second half, frustration grew, and offensive decisions became more forced as the Swiss looked for a second goal to put the game away. Then in stoppage time, the Swiss made a defensive blunder by giving Qatari midfielder Homam Ahmed way too much time on the ball in a rare Qatari possession deep in the Swiss half. Ahmed then swung a cross in the direction of Boualem Khoukhi, whose pressure on defender Miro Muheim resulted in an own-goal and thus a point for Qatar. Head coach Murat Yakin has done an impressive job with Switzerland since he was hired in 2021, but he has his work cut out for him after the Qatar game. Switzerland is still likely to advance, but Yakin now faces issues of correcting the team's mentality after frustration and poor decision-making set in against a less talented team. That is never where any coach wants to be after squandering what should have been two reliable points. Bosnia and Herzegovina will be a much more difficult test. While the Bosnians were likely disappointed with settling for a 1-1 draw against Canada, it was still not a bad result to secure a point against a host country. Bosnia and Herzegovina also knows it will be heavily favored in the group finale against Qatar and likely do not feel close to the same pressure Switzerland does. Bosnia and Herzegovina head coach Sergej Barbarez has important decisions to make in this game and the main one being what to do with captain and team legend Edin Džeko. The 40-year-old attacker was an unused substitute in the 1-1 draw with Canada. Džeko suffered a shoulder injury during Bosnia and Herzegovina’s playoff win over Italy in March. Since then, he has struggled to get healthy, and his fitness was a concern heading into the tournament. Bosnia’s coaching staff took a cautious approach with Džeko against Canada but at some point, it will turn to the captain. This game against a struggling Switzerland team, where a win would likely be enough to reach the knockouts, might be the moment to turn to the team’s all-time leading scorer who has 73 international goals in 148 caps. Player to Watch The FC Astana midfielder had a strong game against Canada where he went 61 minutes and created several chances, specifically through his accurate crossing. It was his corner in the 21st minute that eventually resulted in Bosnia’s goal. His central midfield partnership with Benjamin Tahirovic was also very effective in the first half. Against Switzerland, Basic should once again be very important to setting up Bosnia and Herzegovina's attackers, especially if Dzeko plays as he has elite aerial ability. When: Thursday, June 18, 6 p.m. ETWhere: VancouverTV: FS1Stream: Watch three days free on FOX One Co-hosts Canada will aim to take a massive step towards its first ever World Cup knockout on Thursday when it takes on Qatar at BC Place in Vancouver on Thursday. This is the third World Cup Canada has ever participated in, and the Canadians are yet to win a game in the tournament. Last week’s 1-1 draw with Bosnia & Herzegovina was the national team’s first ever World Cup point, and it was a small step forward for Jesse Marsch’s team. Canada likely needs a win to advance in this World Cup, and this is the only group stage game where it is heavily favored. A win would lift the team to four points, which would almost certainly place it as a top third place team, at least. But a draw or a loss would force Canada into a must-win game against a talented Switzerland team in the group stage finale. That puts all the pressure on Canada in this game. Canada is likely to be without the injured Alphonso Davies again as he is still working his way back from a hamstring injury. But the team needs better performances from two of its stars in Jonathan David and Tajon Buchanan, who were both mostly ineffective against Bosnia and Herzegovina and were subbed out 17 minutes before Cyle Larin’s 78th minute equalizer. For Qatar, the approach in every group stage game is likely the same. Head coach Julen Lopetegui has his team sit back and absorb a lot of pressure and then try to take advantage of limited opportunities on the counterattack or from set pieces. The problem for Qatar, however, is that it still requires a lot of luck. While Qatar’s defense played well to earn a 1-1 draw against Switzerland, the Swiss still had 26 shots in the game. In most games with a similar performance, Switzerland would score several goals. To achieve another result, Qatar is going to have play well and get the benefit of luck. Playing well begins with goalkeeper Mahmud Abunada, who conceded a penalty that resulted in Switzerland’s loan goal, but was otherwise excellent. Canada is the heavy favorite in this game, but the big test will be how the team handles the pressure of a must-win game against an opponent who will look to sit deep with most of its players behind the ball. Player to Watch With Canada struggling for most of the game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was Larin who came off the bench and delivered the equalizer. Jonathan David did not play well in the opener and his first season at Juventus was largely disappointing. Despite the infamous end to Southampton’s season, Larin played very well for the team down the stretch to lead them into the promotional playoffs. Marsch might be tempted to ride the hot hand in this critical game and start Larin. Whether that means playing in place of David or alongside of him in a two-striker formation, Larin might be the team’s best goal-scoring threat right now based on form. When: Thursday, June 18, 9 p.m. ETWhere: GuadalajaraTV: FOXStream: Watch three days free on FOX One After both Mexico and South Korea put on impressive displays last week on the opening day of this World Cup, the two teams meet at Guadalajara Stadium in Thursday’s final game. The winner of this game has a great chance of finishing first in Group A. South Korea defeated Czechia 2-1 in its first game, also in Guadalajara. In that game, Czechia opened the scoring through its strong set piece attack, but South Korea was excellent in the second half, scoring twice for a comeback win. In-Beom Hwang and Kang-In Lee were the two best players in that game, with Hwang scoring the equalizer and assisting Hyun-Gyu Oh on the winner. The former Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder was the Man of the Match and will look to carry that momentum into this game. Paris St. Germain’s Kang-in-Lee also was critical to helping South Korea control the midfield in the second half, and he assisted Hwang with a terrific ball into the final third. Most important story right now for South Korea is over its captain and all-time best player in Son Heung-min. The former Tottenham captain has not scored for his club, Los Angeles FC, this season in league play. He is in the middle of a scoring drought and South Korea can only manage that for so long before they need him to produce. This does not mean Son was poor against Czechia. He was very dangerous at times and he had his chances. But South Korea will need him to produce, sooner rather than later. Mexico is coming off an easy 2-0 win over South Africa where Bafana Bafana was reduced to ten men in the 49th minute and then down to nine men in the 84th. Mexico controlled the game and its only disappointment is that it only scored twice. Colombian-born Julián Quiñones, 29, was the best player in that game and while his Mexican national team career only began less than three years ago when he became a naturalized Mexican citizen, he has been a boost to the team and scored his first World Cup goal when he opened the scoring against South Africa. Mexico’s central midfield duo of Álvaro Fidalgo and Brian Gutiérrez will have the biggest assignments against South Korea when they attempt to contain In-Beom Hwang and Kang-In Lee. Player to Watch With 125 career caps and 46 career goals for Mexico, it was not until last week’s win over South Africa when Jiminez finally scored in the World Cup. Now 35, the Hidalgo native is likely in his final World Cup. He was very good in the opening win, even beyond the goal. He created chances through his holdup play, he passed well and made good runs to draw defenders. Now with momentum, he will be difficult for South Korea to contain.
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