Wednesday was supposed to be the quiet day of the group-stage finale — two hosts already through, two groups with most of the interesting maths resolved. It did not play out that way. Mexico had to dig in to keep top spot, Canada gave the home crowd the tournament moment they came for, and Bosnia produced the kind of third-game performance that sneaks teams into the best-thirds bracket. Here is how June 24 played out.
Mexico 2, Czechia 1 — Estadio Akron, Guadalajara
Mexico got the win they needed and made it feel like more work than the team-sheets suggested. Henry Martín opened it from a Hirving Lozano cutback in the 27th, the kind of inside-channel run he has been drilling on since the warm-up window. Czechia ought to have levelled before halftime — Patrik Schick had a near-post header parried by Guillermo Ochoa and an offside flag rescued a Soucek finish from a corner.
The second half tightened. Lozano made it 2–0 in the 64th with a left-footed strike that took a slight deflection, and Mexico looked home. Then Schick got his goal nine minutes from time, a textbook back-post header off a Souček delivery, and the Akron crowd held its breath through six minutes of stoppage time. Aguirre afterwards admitted his side started the second half too passively, but top spot is top spot. Mexico finish Group A on nine points and head into the Round of 32 with the kinder bracket they were chasing.
South Korea 1, South Africa 1 — Estadio Monterrey, Monterrey
The do-or-go-home game was as tense as billed. Son Heung-min finished a flowing Korea break in the 38th, redirecting a Hwang Hee-chan cutback past Ronwen Williams to settle the early nerves. The whistle for halftime arrived with Korea looking like the side closer to a second. They did not get it.
South Africa came out for the second half playing on the front foot for the first time in the group. Lyle Foster equalised in the 72nd, latching onto a long ball that Kim Min-jae misjudged and finishing low across goal. Korea sit on five points and finish second in Group A — enough to advance. South Africa finish on four and are out, but Hugo Broos's side leave the tournament with their reputation intact and a defensive template a few smaller federations will study.
Canada 2, Switzerland 0 — BMO Field, Toronto
The home story keeps writing itself. Jonathan David opened it in the 19th, drifting off Manuel Akanji and finishing through Yann Sommer's near post, and from there Switzerland never looked like the kind of team that recovers from a deficit at a major tournament. Canada's midfield closed every passing lane the Swiss tried to play through, and Granit Xhaka spent most of his afternoon ten yards deeper than he wants to operate.
Tajon Buchanan's late finish — a counter-attack from a Switzerland corner, started by Alphonso Davies hammering the ball out of his own area — made it 2–0 in the 88th and turned BMO Field into something the Premier League has not produced in years. Canada finish Group B on nine points and top of the table. Switzerland leave the tournament after an opening-day win that turned out to be the high point. Murat Yakin's job will be discussed in Bern long after the Swiss flight home.
Bosnia 3, Qatar 0 — BC Place, Vancouver
The night's outlier result. Edin Džeko delivered the centre-forward performance everyone hoped he had left at thirty-nine — finishing the opener in the 12th with a calm right-footed drive, drawing the foul that Qatar's centre-back picked up his second yellow on, and dropping deep to help Bosnia kill the game in the second half. Ermedin Demirović — sorry, Tabaković — added a second before halftime, and Krunić's deflected strike from the edge made it three in the 67th.
Crucially, Bosnia's goal difference now sits at +2 after the rout, and the result combined with Canada's clean sheet against Switzerland was enough to vault them into one of the eight best-third spots. They are through. Qatar — outscored 11–0 across three games — leave the tournament with the starkest table line of the group stage. The questions about how Qatar were so far behind the curve after 2022 will not go away quietly.
Final Group A and B tables
Group A:
- Mexico 9 pts (advance, top seed)
- South Korea 5 pts (advance, runner-up)
- South Africa 4 pts (eliminated)
- Czechia 0 pts (eliminated)
Group B:
- Canada 9 pts (advance, top seed)
- Bosnia & Herzegovina 6 pts (advance via best third)
- Switzerland 3 pts (eliminated)
- Qatar 0 pts (eliminated)
Three takeaways from Day 14
- Mexico are not the version anyone feared in March. They have nine points, they have finished top of an opening group, and they still have not played their best game. The bracket should be wary.
- Canada are no longer the feel-good story — they are a serious team. Three wins, two clean sheets, an attacking core built around David and Davies, and a defensive shape that has held under pressure. Anybody drawing them next has homework to do.
- The best-thirds race just got smaller. Bosnia's win means one of the eight slots is gone with two days of group stage still to go. Expect every Group C through L third-placed side to be calculator-deep on the bench from now on.
FAQ
Who tops Groups A and B? Mexico (Group A) and Canada (Group B). Both finished on nine points from three wins.
Is Bosnia officially through? Yes. The three-goal margin and Switzerland's loss in Toronto locked one of the best-third spots, and the goal-difference cushion is large enough that no remaining group can knock them out.
What about Switzerland — any path back? None. Three points and a negative goal difference is not enough for a best-third spot once the rest of the matchday-3 results land.
What's next? Thursday June 25 is Groups C and D Matchday 3 — Brazil, the USA, Morocco and Paraguay all in action. See the Scorelisto blog for the Day 15 preview and check live soccer scores.