Neither side can afford another blank evening. Czechia and South Africa meet at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Thursday knowing that a second defeat in Group A would almost certainly end their World Cup before it has properly begun.

The group picture after the opening round is unforgiving. Mexico and South Korea sit joint-top on three points apiece, leaving Czechia and South Africa with nothing to show from their first games. Czechia were beaten 2-1, managing a goal but unable to hold firm. South Africa lost 2-0 and failed to score. For both, this is less a fixture and more a necessity.

The teams have never previously met in competitive football. No history to draw on, no old scores to settle, no psychological edge earned from a previous encounter. Everything is decided here, from scratch.

On team news, both squads report no fresh absences ahead of kick-off, which at least gives each manager a full hand to play with. There will be no convenient excuse should either side come up short in Atlanta.

What makes this match genuinely difficult to call is the symmetry of their situations. South Africa need a win as badly as Czechia do, and a draw, while slightly better than nothing on goal difference, leaves both with a mountain to climb in the final group game. Expect neither side to set up with patience as their primary virtue.

Czechia, playing effectively as the home side at a North American tournament populated by neutrals and diaspora, should carry something in attack. Their 2-1 defeat at least showed they could threaten. South Africa, by contrast, were shut out and must find a way to score for the first time in the tournament if they are to remain relevant.

The data leans firmly against a South African victory: the models give Czechia a 45 per cent chance of winning, a draw 45 per cent, and South Africa just 10 per cent. That is a striking split, essentially suggesting the contest is between a Czech win and a stalemate, with a South African triumph treated as a long shot. Whether that reflects Czechia's greater technical depth, or simply South Africa's difficulty in finding the net, the numbers point in one clear direction.

Kick-off at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium is 17:00 UK time on Thursday 18 June.