MEXICO CITY — If history is any guide, co-hosts Mexico will kick off the World Cup with every reason to be confident of comfortably advancing into the knockout rounds from Group A.
Mexico, the only country to host three World Cups, reached the quarterfinals on the two previous occasions the tournament was played on home soil, in 1970 and 1986.
The co-hosts get the tournament under way against South Africa at the Estadio Azteca on June 11 before later first-round games against South Korea and the Czech Republic, AFP reported.
With a consistent record of reaching the last 16 in the seven World Cups spanning 1994 and 2018, Mexico has enough tournament pedigree to suggest that qualification from Group A should be straightforward.
While the 2022 tournament bucked that trend – Mexico exited in the first round after a dismal campaign – recent results have suggested a return to form.
Veteran coach Javier Aguirre, who led Mexico at the 2002 and 2010 World Cups, returned for a third spell in charge in 2024 and led ‘El Tri’ to victories in last year’s Concacaf Nations League and Concacaf Gold Cups.
Veteran striker Raul Jimenez provides a reliable goalscoring cutting edge in attack, while 17-year-old midfielder Gilberto Mora could also emerge as one of the most talented young players of the tournament.
Mexico’s biggest challenge in Group A is likely to come from South Korea, who enter the tournament on the back of an unbeaten 16-game qualifying campaign.
An ever-present at the World Cup since qualifying for the 1986 finals in Mexico, South Korea reached the last 16 in Qatar and will fancy their chances of charting a path to the knockout rounds once again.
Head coach Hong Myung-bo, who took over in 2024 after a troubled one-year reign under Jurgen Klinsmann, has a squad studded with European-based players, notably Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in and Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae.
In attack, former Tottenham forward Son Heung-min will provide the goal threat, although the Major League Soccer-based veteran arrives at the tournament in miserable domestic form, having failed to score for Los Angeles FC this season.
The Czech Republic are the lone European team in the group, and have everything to prove after a haphazard qualifying campaign that included a seismic 2-1 defeat to the Faroe Islands that led to the dismissal of coach Ivan Hasek last October.
Miroslav Koubek, 74, replaced Hasek and subsequently guided the team through the playoffs with back-to-back defeats of Ireland and Denmark, both games won on penalties.
South Africa meanwhile is making only their fourth appearance at the World Cup and their first since hosting the 2010 tournament.
Bafana Bafana have never progressed past the group stage, and will look to buck that trend under the guidance of 74-year-old Belgian coach Hugo Broos, who steered Cameroon to the Africa Cup of Nations title in 2017.
