Group A finished: Mexico 1st, South Africa 2nd, South Korea 3rd, and Czech Republic 4th

Despite the fact that it seemed the last group closure of the day would disappoint, it ended up leaving a perfect record and a historic qualification. After the recent definitions of Groups B and C, Group A closed its doors with a 3-0 thrashing by Mexico, finishing with 9 out of 9, over Czech Republic and an unexpected 1-0 victory for South Africa over South Korea, which gave them their first qualification to the second phase of a World Cup.

South Africa 1-0 South Korea

The match would start with a South Korea that maintained a slight superiority, although this did not translate into concrete goal chances beyond a shot from Lee Kang-in in the 7th minute, and a South Africa that would only get excited through counterattacks, except for a double opportunity in the 29th minute (first a powerful shot from Thalente Mbatha and then Evidence Makgopa on the rebound), both neutralized by goalkeeper Seung-Gyu Kim. This trend would continue throughout the first half, where neither team would manage to create a standout opportunity.

In the second half, although the Asians would come close to scoring first with a header from Oh Hyeongyu that goalkeeper Ronwen Williams managed to catch, it would be the South Africans who would take the lead first. In the 62nd minute, Thapelo Maseko would receive a ball in the area and, after controlling it, would shoot to the near post to make it 1-0.

Despite South Korea going all out in search of an equalizer that would secure their qualification for second place, South Africa, completely defensive and with an impenetrable defense, would not let them have their way and secured their passage to the next phase for the first time in their history.

Czech Republic 0-3 Mexico

In the other match, the first segment would start with little football and many fouls. Although Mexico would dominate possession, it wouldn't be until the end of the first half that they would manage a shot on goal from Jorge Sánchez, but it didn't challenge Czech Republic's goalkeeper, Matěj Kovář.

In the second half, the first goal of the match would finally arrive. In the 54th minute, Mateo Chávez would receive the ball on a counterattack in the midfield, shake off a defender, and reach the area, where he would beat Kovář.

Shortly after, the Aztec team would manage to extend their lead: Sánchez would be brilliantly assisted by the young Gilberto Mora and, although he would be stopped by the Czech goalkeeper, the resulting rebound would fall to Tomas Holeš who would clear poorly, causing the ball to bounce off Sánchez, leaving the goal for Julián Quiñones.

With the match entering its final stages, the Mexican coach would take the opportunity to make a historic substitution: Raúl Rangel for Guillermo "Memo" Ochoa, who officially became the third player to play in six different World Cups, after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

With the match completely decided, Mexico would crown their victory in the final minutes with a third goal: Santiago Giménez would shoot at Kovář and the rebound would fall to Roberto Alvarado, who would set up Álvaro Fidalgo for the definitive 3-0.

How Group A ended

With these results, Mexico finished first with a perfect score and will face some third-place team from Groups C, E, F, H, I (for now their opponent would be Scotland, from Group C), next Tuesday, June 30 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

Meanwhile, South Africa finished second with 4 points and will face Canada next Sunday, June 28 at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

Further down, South Korea finished third with 3 points, and will depend on how the rest of the groups finish to see if they finally remain among the 8 best third-placed teams and advance to the next phase. If they do, they will play against the first from Group E (Germany) or the one from Group G (for now Egypt).

Finally, Czech Republic closed their disappointing World Cup with just one point, marking one of their worst records in the tournament.