- 2026 FIFA World Cup: South Korea Rally Past Czechia to Open Campaign in Style
South Korea fought back from a goal down to secure a thrilling 2-1 victory over Czechia in their opening Group A clash at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday morning in Zapopan.
The Taegeuk Warriors showed resilience and quality in the second half as goals from Hwang In-Beom and Oh Hyeon-Gyu overturned Ladislav Krejci’s opener to hand the Asian side a crucial three points at Estadio Akron.
After a cagey opening period, South Korea created the better chances in the first half. Lee Han-Beom went close with a header in the 12th minute, while captain Son Heung-min narrowly missed with a long-range strike just before halftime.
South Korea continued to press after the restart and nearly took the lead in the 56th minute when Lee Kang-In threaded a pass through to Son, but Czech goalkeeper Matej Kovar produced an excellent one-on-one save to keep the scores level.
Despite South Korea’s dominance, Czechia struck first just before the hour mark. Vladimir Coufal launched a dangerous long throw into the box and Ladislav Krejci timed his run perfectly to glance a powerful header into the near corner for a 1-0 lead.
The lead, however, lasted only eight minutes. South Korea found their equaliser in spectacular fashion through Hwang In-Beom. Lee Kang-In slipped a clever pass into the area and Hwang calmly dummied past a defender before delicately lifting the ball over Kovar and retreating defenders as it slowly crossed the line to make it 1-1 in the 67th minute.
Czechia thought they had restored their advantage in the 77th minute when Tomas Soucek headed home from a set-piece, but celebrations were cut short after the assistant referee flagged for offside.
That proved to be a turning point as South Korea completed the comeback three minutes later. Hwang In-Beom again played a decisive role, bursting down the right flank before delivering a low cross into the box for Oh Hyeon-Gyu, whose effort squeezed past Kovar to put the Taegeuk Warriors ahead 2-1.
Czechia pushed hard for a late equaliser and almost found one immediately when Adam Hlozek connected with a volley inside the box, but goalkeeper Kim Seung-Gyu reacted brilliantly to deny him.
Kim then preserved South Korea’s lead deep into stoppage time with another excellent save, diving low to smother Michal Sadilek’s powerful strike and seal a memorable victory.
The result sees South Korea join Mexico at the top of Group A on three points, while Czechia are left searching for their first win of the tournament.
Czechia will next face South Africa in Atlanta on June 18, while South Korea take on Mexico in a highly anticipated clash in Zapopan on June 19.
