It’s not an elimination game, but Czechia and South Africa will be desperate to get a result on Thursday after they both dropped their initial match at the 2026 World Cup.
Czechia fell, 2-1, to South Korea in a terrific game, while South Africa looked lifeless in a 2-0 defeat to Mexico in the tournament’s opener.
Both teams will fancy their chances to get something out of this game, but the bookmakers are siding with Czechia as a -130 favorite on the three-way moneyline.
South Africa’s issues against Mexico were of its own making. Bafana Bafana prefer to build up from the back when they’re in possession, but they kept turning the ball over in their own half and making life easy for El Tri. They were punished twice. It could have been worse.
Czechia found itself ahead of South Korea in the second half, but there’s hardly a person who watched that encounter that would argue that Nároďák deserved a better fate.
They struggled with South Korea’s frenetic pace and showed some serious vulnerabilities under pressure.
The good news is that it’s unlikely we’ll see South Africa buzzing around the field in the same way.
Not only is South Africa not built to be a high-pressure team, but Bafana Bafana are also in an interesting situation. Yes, they’d like to win, but a draw wouldn’t be the worst result for them, as they’ll get a crack at South Korea in the final match. That’s a winnable contest.
Czechia, meanwhile, will have Mexico in its group-stage finale, so they’ll be under immense pressure to get the win in this contest.
It would not be a shock to see South Africa put a real emphasis on tidying things up on their own end after a dismal display against Mexico, so I expect Hugo Broos to put plenty of bodies behind the ball.
That will put Czechia in control of the match, a position they aren’t all that comfortable with.
This is unlikely to be a thriller.
The Play: Under 2.5 goals (-130, DraftKings)
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
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