After losses in their first matches in Group A, Czechia and South Africa need to kickstart their World Cup 2026 campaigns in game two.
They meet at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, knowing that a win for one puts progress back in their hands, and that defeat would leave their destiny in doubt, even if they were to win their last game.
After the opening-day drama in Mexico City, South Africa must keep 11 players on the pitch to have any hope of beating Czechia.
Referee appointment for Czechia vs South Africa
South Africa had two players sent off in their first game (Image credit: Getty Images)
Today’s first Group A match will be officiated by a referee taking part in her first men’s World Cup on home turf.
Tori Penso is a 39-year-old referee from Florida and was in the middle when Spain beat England in the final of the last Women’s World Cup in Sydney.
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Penso was added to the FIFA list as recently as 2021 and has quickly risen through the ranks, taking charge of the final of her first Women’s World Cup and now joining the 2026 roster as one of the top American referees.
She is the first female American referee at a men’s World Cup and was the first full-time female referee in Major League Soccer, where she’s been working for the last six years.
The 2026 MLS season started in February and is on hiatus for the World Cup. In nine matches so far, Penso is yet to issue a red card and has awarded a single penalty. She has averaged a shade over four yellow cards per match.
Czechia vs South Africa is Penso’s men’s World Cup debut and Bafana Bafana will hope for a better outcome than the two red cards they received against Mexico in their first match.
Penso has never refereed either of these nations in men’s or women’s football.
Referee Tori Penso (Image credit: Getty Images)
Penso will lead an all-female, all-American trio completed by assistant referees Kathryn Nesbitt and Brooke Mayo. New Zealand’s Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh will be the fourth official.
VAR will be led by Tatiana Guzman of Nicaragua.
