The evening block of June 18 produced one completed match in the Kyiv window: Czech Republic vs South Africa in Atlanta ended in a 1:1 draw. Both teams had already suffered defeats in the first round, so this draw saves neither — the battle for survival in Group A continues.
Czech Republic vs South Africa 1:1 (Group A, Atlanta)
The Czechs opened the scoring through Michal Sadílek: after a long throw-in, the ball traveled through South Africa's penalty area, Alexandr Šojka flicked it into the path of the shot, and Sadílek made no mistake — 1:0. Bafana Bafana responded and equalized, making it 1:1 at the final whistle. Exact details on the South Africa goalscorer and the minutes of the goals are still being confirmed — see the morning digest.
For Czech Republic, this is already their second game without a win: in the first round they lost to the Republic of Korea 1:2. For South Africa, it is their first point of the tournament after a 0:2 defeat to Mexico. In the Group A standings after two rounds, Mexico lead (3 points), followed by the Republic of Korea (3 points), while Czech Republic and South Africa both have 1 point. The two sides will face each other in the third round — effectively a survival final.
Currently in Progress
At 22:00 Kyiv time, the Group B match kicked off: Switzerland vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (SoFi Stadium, Inglewood). At 01:00 on June 19, Canada vs Qatar (Vancouver) gets underway. Results of these matches will be covered in the morning digest.
