South Africa v South Korea, Czechia v Mexico, Scotland v Brazil, Morocco v Haiti games, standings, groups, teams, players, how to watch

Play is under way in Mexico City Stadium as group leaders and co-hosts Mexico face Czechia who must win this match to progress.

Let us know who you think will win:

South Korea have left veteran superstar Son Heung-min on the bench for today’s must win clash with South Africa.

The former Tottenham Hotspur attacker will likely feature off the bench but it is a surprise to see him not in the starting XI.

Both nations have hopes of making the round of 32 – South Korea will finish second in the group with a win but will fall from that spot if they lose.

South Africa have shown plenty of fight and grit in their two games but have paid dearly for their poor disciplinary record, with regular starters Teboho Mokoena and Themba Zwane are suspended.

The South Africans are singing in the tunnel as they walk out in Monterrey, they won’t go down without giving their all.

We’re turning to Group A now with two matches about to kick off at 11am (AEST). Mexico have already qualified for the round of 32, and were the first team of the tournament to do so. They’re followed by South Korea who will progress in second if they beat South Africa.

If they lose, South Africa will take four points and slide into second. Czechia will need to beat Mexico to bump South Africa down to third and qualify in the second place slot.

Neither South Africa nor Czechia are likely to progress as the best third-placed teams if they fail to win their matches, leaving them with one point each after the group stage.

Mexico City: Lionel Messi celebrated his 39th birthday on Wednesday during a World Cup that, at least for now, has brought him nothing but joy: Defending champion Argentina has already qualified for the knockout stage, and its captain has become the tournament’s career scoring leader.

Messi marked the occasion alongside his teammates at Argentina’s training base in Kansas City, Missouri. This is his sixth World Cup and the fifth time he’s had a birthday during the tournament. The exception was the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which was played in November and December.

Messi has scored all of Argentina’s goals so far: three in its opening win over Algeria and two more in its victory over Austria. He has 18 for his World Cup career, two better than Miroslav Klose and Kylian Mbappé.

On social media, Messi shared a photo of himself with a cake, alongside some of his teammates. The cake was from Pan Caliente, a Kansas City bakery owned by an Argentine pastry chef.

The Iran Football Federation (FFIRI) has accused US authorities of “harassing” its team captain and assistant manager at an airport amid their ongoing row at this World Cup.

Mehdi Taremi and Saeed Alhoei were said to have faced “interference” at Tijuana airport in Mexico on Wednesday that “caused the team to be delayed” before boarding a flight to Seattle ahead of Iran’s game against Egypt.

Donald Trump’s World Cup Task Force responded to the claims by stating that the Iran team arrived in Seattle “a few minutes ahead of schedule”.

All passengers’ identities and documents are screened before departure and Iran said Taremi and Alhoei had faced “harassment” at the airport.

Scottish fans are used to heartbreak when it comes to the World Cup, considering this is their first appearance in the tournament since 1998.

Now Scotland face more nervous days as they wait to see if they will progress to the round of 32 after finishing third in Group C.

Data analysts Opta have been running an updating forecast for each team’s hopes of making the round of 32 and after today’s 3-0 loss to Brazil, Scotland is now listed as a 43 per cent chance to progress as one of the eight best third-place team.

Scotland have three points, which will help them a lot, but their goal difference is -3 and that could cost them.

Our next round of games, set for 11am AEST could improve Scotland’s hopes, if neither Czech Republic nor South Africa win their last games, as one of them will finish third but neither of them has won a game so far.

That’s it for matches in Group C. Brazil have topped the group with a better goal difference than Morocco, but both will progress to the round of 32. Scotland, on the other hand, are looking far less likely to qualify as one of the best third-placed teams after conceeding three goals to Brazil leaving them with a -3 goal difference.

Take a look:

Morocco scored two second-half goals to beat Haiti 4-2 and progress to the round of 32.

But Haiti have made some proud national history scoring their first two goals at the World Cup since their debut in the tournament in 1974.

An own goal from Morocco and then a thundering strike from outside the box by Wilson Isidor gave thousands of Haitians in the stands in Atlanta reason to scream with joy.

Haiti almost scored a free kick in the final minutes but Moroccan keeper Yassine Bounou dived to save the shot.

Gessime Yassine has tapped in a fourth goal for Morocco as Haiti’s frustrations boil over.

The VAR took several minutes to review whether the ball went completely out of bounds before it was crossed into Yassine who was smiling the whole time before running away for a delayed celebration.

It’s his first international goal. Morocco are celebrating.

Morocco 4-2 Haiti, 89 minutes

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