What’s at stake in the South Africa and Czechia World Cup game in Atlanta?

South Africa and Czechia both lost their opening matches in the FIFA World Cup. That only ups the stakes for the matchup between the two Group A teams at Atlanta Stadium on Thursday at noon.

Only two teams of the four in the group are guaranteed to move on, while eight third-place teams will advance from 12 sets of teams. The tie breakers depend on points, goal difference, goals scored, team conduct score and FIFA world ranking, according to FIFA.

South Africa fell 2-0 to Mexico, and Czechia lost 2-1 to South Korea as Czech defender Ladislav Krejčí scored the lone goal for his side. Neither recorded a point in the table — three points count as a win, and a draw equals one point — and if either side wants to stay in contention for a third-place team, they’ll want to get a win.

Mexico and South Korea face off in the 9 p.m. ET slot after the game in Atlanta is decided. El Tri tops the group with the goal differential, and South Africa — which appeared in its first World Cup since automatically qualifying as the host nation in 2010 — is at the bottom.

Through one match, it’s not exactly the literal must-win point for South Africa and the Czech Republic, it’s getting dangerously close. Especially since three groups have all posted draws, including the historic 0-0 tie between Spain and Cabo Verde in Atlanta, making the race for the knockout rounds for winless teams even more competitive.

In the final FIFA rankings ahead of the tournament, Czechia ranked No. 44 while South Africa was placed at 61. Czechia came into the tournament on a five-game win streak, and the Bafana Bafana struggled into this summer, not recording a win since December 2025, along with a handful of draws.

While South Africa has appeared in four World Cups, it has never advanced past the group stage. Meanwhile, Czechia last made the tournament in 2006 and exited after the group matches. Before parting with now-Slovakia, Czechoslovakia was a two-time runner-up in the early years of the tournament, including the first-ever edition in 1934.