South Korea 2-1 Czech Republic
South Korea secured a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic to open their World Cup 2026 campaign on a positive note, but Hong Myung-Bo’s men will leave the Estadio Akron probably unsatisfied. According to the SBOTOP preview made by yours truly, the World Cup 2026 odds expected South Korea to beat the Czech Republic, but the latter almost defied the odds when they drew first blood near the hour mark.
Ladislav Krejci rose to the occasion for Czechia with a towering header to give his team the lead, and suddenly, the pressure ramped up for the Taeguk Warriors, who dominated the match before the first goal. However, it didn’t take them too long to respond, as Hwang In-Beom and Oh Hyeon-Gyu entered the scoring column en route to sealing the victory.
With the win, South Korea joined Mexico, who won 2-0 against South Africa earlier, at the top of the Group A table. Meanwhile, alarm bells are probably ringing for Czechia and South Africa right now, who are consigned to third and fourth, respectively.
Let’s recap the World Cup 2026 highlights of this contest in Zapopan, Mexico.
Highlights of the game
South Korea controlled the proceedings in the first half, with captain Son Heung-Min leading the way. The LAFC forward, who has not scored in the MLS this year, fired one attempt wide of the bottom-left corner before losing his footing as he attempted to turn Lee Jae-Sung’s centre towards goal.
Matej Kovar was a busy man between the sticks, as the PSV Eindhoven goalie saved one South Korean attempt after another, including Lee Kang-In’s long attempt early in the 14th minute.
However, Czechia’s set-piece prowess came to the fore in the 59th minute when Ladislav Krejci came out of nowhere to nod the ball home after a throw-in from Vladimir Coufal, leaving goalkeeper Kim Seung-Gyu in shock. Head coach Miroslav Koubek then took out Patrik Schick, Lukas Provod, and Pavel Sulc, which was a huge mistake.
Czechia’s lead didn’t last long, as Lee Kang-In’s pass found Hwang In-Beom on the left side, and the Feyenoord star curled the ball into the far corner in the 67th minute. A few minutes later, Tomas Soucek scored off another set-piece through Michal Sadilek’s free-kick, but the VAR ruled him offside.
South Korea made the reprieve count when Oh Hyeon-Gyu doubled their lead with 10 minutes to play. Another Coufal throw almost led to a Czech Republic equaliser, but Bayern Munich centre-back Kim Min-Jae blocked Adam Hlozek’s attempt and their counterparts’ last-ditch effort to salvage a point.
Key statistics
South Korea have defeated a European side for the third consecutive time to open their World Cup campaign. They’ve also won against Germany (2-0 in 2018) and Portugal (2-1 in 2022) before their 2-1 triumph over the Czech Republic.
The Taeguk Warriors dominated the ball, as they logged a 62-per cent possession share and an xG of 1.84, compared to 38-per cent possession and 0.81 xG for Czechia.
Hwang In-Beom became the third South Korean to register a goal and an assist in a World Cup match after Choi Soon-Ho (against Italy in 1986) and current head coach Hong Myung-Bo (against Spain in 1994). Oh Hyeon-Gyu is the eighth South Korean to score on his first career World Cup appearance and fifth to do so as a sub.
Not to be left out, Lee Kang-In was particularly influential for the Taeguk Warriors, as he completed all 37 of his passes, won 10 of his 14 duels, and created three chances.
During the UEFA qualifiers, the Czech Republic scored 11 of their 22 goals from set-pieces. Seven of Czechia’s last 14 World Cup goals, dating back to 1990 as Czechoslovakia, have been headers. Ladislav Krejci’s opener was the first World Cup goal to be scored directly off a throw-in since Zanka did so for Denmark against Croatia in 2018.
What’s next?
South Korea and Mexico will battle for the top spot next Wednesday, a few hours after the must-win contest between Czechia and South Africa. The winner of this contest will likely progress to the knockout stage right away.
The Czech Republic are expected to beat South Africa in their next game, but they’ll have to face Mexico after. By the looks of it, their chance of advancing to the Round of 32 is finishing third in Group A, and they’ll hope that they’re good enough to earn the berth.
South Korea’s final group stage match is against South Africa on June 24th, which is another winnable game for the former.
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