South Korea kicked off their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign in spectacular fashion, defeating Czechia 2-1 in a dramatic Group A encounter in Guadalajara.
Although the Czech side took the lead first, the Asian representatives showed great character in the second half, completing an impressive comeback to secure three crucial points.
The match offered an intriguing clash of football philosophies. South Korea relied on quick passing combinations and technical precision to create chances, while the Czechs looked to exploit their physical advantage and threat from set pieces.
South Korea could have put the game beyond doubt much earlier, but Heung-min Son endured an unusually wasteful evening. The forward missed several promising opportunities, and in the 57th minute his effort was denied by Matěj Kovář following an excellent pass from Lee Jae-sung.
Just two minutes later came the punishment. After a long throw-in from Vladimír Coufal, Ladislav Krejčí rose highest in the penalty area and headed the ball into the net to give Czechia a 1-0 lead.
However, the Korean side refused to surrender. In the 67th minute, Hwang In-beom took matters into his own hands and produced a moment of brilliance to level the score. Receiving the ball from Lee Kang-in, he evaded his markers before delicately lobbing Kovář to make it 1-1.
The decisive move came from South Korea’s head coach, who replaced Son with Oh Hyeon-gyu. The substitute proved to be the hero of the night in the 80th minute, reacting quickest inside the box to guide the ball into the net for the decisive 2-1 advantage.
Earlier, Czechia thought they had regained the lead through Tomáš Souček, but the assistant referee’s flag, later confirmed by a VAR review, ruled the goal out for offside.
The Czechs had one final opportunity to salvage a point in the closing stages, but Kim Seung-gyu produced a superb goal-line clearance to preserve South Korea’s advantage.
With this victory, South Korea took an important step toward qualification for the knockout stage, while Czechia will need a positive response in their upcoming fixtures if they hope to remain in contention at the tournament.
Earlier in the day, tournament hosts Mexico opened their World Cup campaign with a 2-0 victory over South Africa. Quiñones and Jiménez found the back of the net for the hosts, while the match was also marked by a series of rough challenges that resulted in three red cards.
