The magic of Mexican walls and bright comebacks: who will triumph in Group A?

The World Cup will take place from June 11 to July 19 in Canada, the USA, and Mexico.

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Group A teams will play in Mexico, Guadalajara, Monterrey (Mexico), and Atlanta (USA).

Mexico

Mexico, hosting the World Cup for the first time in 40 years, will seek to recover after the 2022 tournament, where they did not advance past the group stage.

Seven times before, the Mexicans were stopped at the round of 16, and only twice reached the quarterfinals, both times when the tournament was held in Mexico: in 1970 and 1986.

The “Tricolor” will hope that for the third time the tournament is held in Mexico, they will advance at least to the top eight.

However, although all three group matches will be played in their own country, in the knockout stages Mexicans may have to move to neighboring USA. Mexico would only play the round of 16 and quarterfinals at home if they finish first in Group A.

In the Latin American team, many hopes will be placed on the just 17-year-old Gilberto Mora, who debuted in the national team at only 16 and became the youngest male national team player in history.

He will be coached at the World Cup by Javier Aguirre, who is half a century older and is taking charge of the Mexico team for the third time. This specialist once played for the national team and represented it in the 1986 World Cup held in Mexico.

In his sixth World Cup, Mexico’s goal will be guarded by the 40-year-old goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, who has become a true legend of the planet’s championships.

Interestingly, Mexico will become the first country where World Cup matches have been held three times.

South Africa

“Bafana Bafana,” or “Zulu boys,” as the country’s footballers are called, return to the World Cup for the first time since 2010, when the tournament was held in this African country.

Although they caused a sensation then by beating the then world vice-champion France 2-1, this country’s team was the first host to fail to advance past the group stage.

On the way to the planet’s championships, the team coached by 74-year-old Belgian H. Broos defeated African football powerhouse Nigeria, but they go to the World Cup with modest ambitions.

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Only six team players play for foreign clubs, while all the rest represent South African teams. However, eight national team players defend the honor of “Mamelodi Sundowns,” which last season became the strongest team on the continent – winning the CAF Champions League after 10 years.

South Korea

Koreans will participate in the World Cup for the twelfth time, the most among all Asian countries.

South Korean footballers achieved their highest success at home in the 2002 tournament, when on the way to the semifinals they sensationally and with a hint of scandal defeated Italy and Spain.

Except for the tournament 24 years ago, Koreans have never passed the round of 16, and in Qatar four years ago they did not resist Brazil in the first knockout stage (1-4).

South Korea qualified for the World Cup undefeated and will bring not only the country’s brightest star Son Heung-min but also representatives of European giants Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and Lee Kang-in (“Paris Saint-Germain”).

However, the mood before the start of the championships in the team is not good, as in preparation Koreans lost 0-4 to Ivory Coast and 0-1 to Austria.

Interestingly, the South Korean team will be led to the World Cup by coach Hong Myung-bo, who was the national team captain in the historic 2002 tournament for this country’s football.

Czech Republic

A regular participant in European Championships (since 1996, when they reached the final, they have not missed a single continental tournament), they qualified for the World Cup after a 20-year break.

However, even the 2006 tournament is remembered by the Czechs with regret – arriving as one of the favorites, they ultimately did not advance past the group stage.

The Czechoslovakia football team has a more impressive history – it lost in the 1934 World Cup final in extra time to Italy and in 1962 lost the decisive match against Brazil.

On the way to this year’s planet championships, the Czechs crushed Denmark’s dreams in a penalty shootout and arrive at the tournament with team captain Vladimir Darida returning after five years and several players from the English Premier League and German Bundesliga.

However, the core of the Czech team consists of players playing in the biggest local clubs: 10 play for Prague’s Slavia, three each for Prague’s Sparta and Plzen’s Viktoria.

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Prepared based on AP and “The Guardian” publications.