Welcome to TNIE's live coverage of Day 8 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Day 8 action will see Czechia take on South Africa in their second Group A fixture, followed by Switzerland's second Group B match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Canada will then face Qatar in the other Group B encounter before co-hosts Mexico round off the day's action with a Group A clash against South Korea.
Mexico and South Korea will aim to punch their ticket to the World Cup knockout rounds on Thursday when they meet in Guadalajara knowing a win will guarantee a last 32 berth.
Below are Day 8's fixtures, with all times in IST:
Czechia vs South Africa – (9:30 pm)
Switzerland vs Bosnia and Herzegovina – (12:30 am)
Canada vs Qatar – (3:30 am)
Mexico vs South Korea – (6:30 am)
Scotland captain Andy Robertson urged his team to build on their opening World Cup win against Haiti and get a result against Morocco on Friday which would help propel them into the knockout rounds of the tournament for the very first time.
"I don't think any of the lads or the coaching staff and backroom staff have shied away from it," Robertson told reporters at the Gillette Stadium on the eve of the game.
"We want to be the first team to be able to do that for our country. And it's obviously a nice feeling to try and do that.
“We know how difficult it's going to be. We're now playing against one of the best teams in the world.
"But we also believe that if we perform to our maximum, then we can make it difficult for anyone.
"I think we've proven that over the years," added the 32-year-old, who has just signed for Tottenham Hotspur after almost a decade at Liverpool.
Scotland kicked off their World Cup campaign in the United States with a 1-0 win over Haiti at the same venue near Boston last weekend.
South Africa drew 1-1 with the Czech Republic in both teams' second match of the World Cup on Thursday.
Teboho Mokoena's penalty equalized Michal Sadilek's sixth-minute opener in a result that means the winner of the match between co-hosts Mexico and South Korea later Thursday will win Group A.
The eight teams playing World Cup matches on Thursday are taking part in an International Day for Countering Hate Speech commemoration, with a pre-match exchange of pennants denouncing such language.
Captains involved in the Czechia-South Africa, Mexico-South Korea, Switzerland-Bosnia-Herzegovina and Canada-Qatar matches will have pennants reading "We Play Together. We Stand Against Hate" with the wording in English on one side and the teams' native language on the other. Other stadium activations involving that message are planned during Thursday's matches.
FIFA says it deleted nearly 400,000 negative or abusive posts in the first few days of this World Cup — more than it did in the entirety of the 2022 event.
Notably, FIFA had deleted more than 30 million abusive posts and comments since its social media protection service was created before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
US President Donald Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship has gone all the way to the US Supreme Court but the issue's impact is already being felt on a giant stage: the World Cup.
Historically, anyone born on US soil automatically has the right to citizenship. Trump wants to end that as part of wider restrictions on immigration.
As Supreme Court justices prepare their ruling, Americans got a vivid illustration of the policy at work in the form of star US striker Folarin Balogun, who scored twice in the 4-1 rout over Paraguay.
Balogun may have shone in the US jersey, but if not for an accident of fate he wouldn't even be American. "(My mother) came to the US to visit her sister, and she had her return ticket but then they said that she was too pregnant. So I was born in New York," Balogun said in an Instagram video posted by the US team this week.
Even though Balogun grew up in London from the age of one month, he qualified for birthright citizenship. Still so British that he prefers English tea over coffee, Balogun ultimately chose to play for the United States over England or his family's native Nigeria.
"The way I was eligible to represent America...I'm not going to be the person to stand in the way of this story," he said in his distinct London accent.
England coach Thomas Tuchel was upset that photographers blocked him from seeing his team during the playing of the national anthem before a victory over Croatia in his World Cup debut.
"I'm begging FIFA to change the position of the photographers, because I could not see my team (during) the national anthem, and I was waiting for this moment," Tuchel said after England beat Croatia 4-2 on Wednesday.
During the playing of England's anthem, "God Save the King," Tuchel gestured toward the photographers - who assemble directly in front of the two benches during the anthems - attempting to get them to move.
When that didn't happen, the German put his arm around his fellow staff members as they resorted to looking up at the stadium's jumbo screen to see their players. "It was a very, very special moment today and I was standing in front of 50 photographers half a meter away and I could not see one single player," Tuchel said.
"It ruined a little bit my experience today."
Ivory Coast striker Elye Wahi, who is being investigated into suspected match-fixing, has not been authorized to travel to Canada for his team’s next World Cup match against Germany, the Ivorian soccer federation said on Thursday.
Ivory Coast faces Germany on Saturday in Toronto.
The federation said Wahi will not be able to travel with the squad because “the necessary administrative authorizations for his entry into Canadian territory could not be obtained at this stage.”
Canada captain Alphonso Davies will be available to play on Thursday against Qatar after he missed his team's World Cup opener while recovering from a hamstring injury, coach Jesse Marsch said.
The left back was injured last month while playing for Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinals.
In an open practice earlier this week, Davies was limited in training and was still in the return-to-play protocol.
“He's been in training this week, and he'll be available tomorrow, and we'll see how the match goes and then make a decision on how we would choose to use him,” March said Wednesday evening.
Davies has not played for Canada since March 2025, when he tore an ACL in the CONCACAF Nations League finals. He has 15 goals in 58 international appearances.
Mexico and South Korea will aim to punch their ticket to the World Cup knockout rounds on Thursday when they meet in Guadalajara knowing a win will guarantee a last 32 berth.
The Group A rivals head into the fixture at the Estadio Akron fresh from respective victories over South Africa and the Czech Republic in their opening games last week.
Co-hosts Mexico eased past a poor South Africa in their opening game last week but are bracing for a tougher test against a South Korean side studded with quality.
"We have to be very wary of the opponent's attacking transitions," Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said.
"When we are attacking, we can't let our guard down; if there are two Koreans up front, there need to be three Mexicans."