After a captivating first round of World Cup fixtures, we return to Group A and Group B for the start of the second round of matches today.
Czech Republic 1-1 South Africa
Switzerland 0-0 Bosnia – LATEST
Canada vs Qatar – 00:00 CET
Mexico vs South Korea – 03:00 CET
21:00 CET – We are underway between Switzerland and Bosnia!
20:07 CET – Team news is in for the second game of this evening as Switzerland take on fellow European side Bosnia & Herzegovina in an intriguing clash between two relatively evenly-matched sides.
Bosnia were held to a 1-1 draw by co-hosts Canada in their opening game, whilst Switzerland were stunned late on by Qatar as they also drew 1-1, so just like the game that just finished, three points are vital to both nations this evening.
Check out the lineups for that game below:
20:00 CET – That penalty dispatched by Mokoena would end up earning South Africa a point that, in reality, does little to help either nation. Both Czechia and South Africa are off the board now at least, but the level of performance and tempo of the match for almost the whole 90 minutes will be of great concern to both sides.
19:48 CET – South Africa have levelled from the spot after a brilliantly dispatched penalty by Teboho Mokoena.
Czech Republic just haven't done anything of note since taking the early lead, and you can't say on the balance of play that South Africa didn't deserve to be level.
19:07 CET – Ready for the second half? Ready or not, it is here!
19:00 CET – So far, it is Czechia who have made a positive response from their first matchday setback as they remain 1-0 ahead against South Africa.
It hasn't been all their own way, however, as South Africa have dominated possession and looked dangerous at times.
This one is far from over!
18:08 CET – The much-changed Czech Republic have wasted no time in taking the lead and it's the fastest goal at this World Cup! It was a brilliant goal too after a free-flowing move was finished off with a touch of class by Michal Sadilek, who dinked the ball over the South Africa keeper.
18:05 CET – The first game of the day is underway as South Africa take on Czech Republic!
Follow it LIVE with Flashscore.
17:00 CET – Team news is in from that game as South Africa move to a back four and have made three changes to personnel, as suspended midfielder Yaya Sithole is replaced by Thalente Mbatha and after a poor performance against Mexico, star striker and Burnley man Lyle Foster has been left on the bench.
Czechia have gone even more extreme with their team selection as Miroslav Koubek makes six changes from the side that lost to South Korea, including the omission of Tomas Soucek and star man Pavel Sulc.
16:00 CET – Getting the second round of fixtures started is a fascinating clash between South Africa and the Czech Republic.
South Africa lost the opening game of the World Cup against co-hosts Mexico and were particularly unimpressive in their performance.
Czechia weren't much better, however, after being outclassed by South Korea en route to an opening game defeat. What that does mean is that this game is vital for both nations; a win would get their World Cup campaigns back on track, but a defeat would send them to the brink of an early exit.
All to play for!
15:05 CET – Ahead of the games later this evening, why don't you keep yourself busy with some of our features?
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13:00 CET – Good afternoon and welcome to day eight at the World Cup and the start of the second round of group stage fixtures. After both countries lost their opening games, the Czech Republic and South Africa return to centre stage this evening in the first of four games.
Defeat for either Czechia or South Africa would be disastrous for their hopes of qualifying, so it is a crucial clash and quite simply a must-win game for both nations.
Be sure to check out our latest World Cup daily highlights article and relive all the action from day seven's live tracker.
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