South Korea staged a second-half comeback against a resolute Czechia outfit, netting twice in the final half-hour of the match. Hwang In-beom scored a late goal, his strike added to the goal from second half substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu as South Korea enjoyed a hard-fought 2-1 victory in their World Cup 2026 opening match.
The Koreans enjoyed possession of the ball from kick-off throughout the first half and dominated the game from the start of proceedings, but it was the Czechs who opened the scoring just before the hour mark through a defender in Ladislav Krejci, which caught out the Koreans before pulling back with a response two minutes later before finding a second through Hwang.
Hong Myung-bo’s men will now be alongside Mexico at the top of Group A with three points and a good early start to qualifying for the knock-out stages.
The first period in Guadalajara saw South Korea enjoy more possession and come up with the majority of the opportunities during this period. Lee Kang-in was at the forefront of most attacks and tested the Czech’s goalkeeper, Matej Kovar, on an early occasion as well as finding pockets of space between the Czech defence.
Captain Son Heung-min continued to have an influential start to the game and fired at goal on several occasions but the forwards could not find the final finish as his nation dominated the first half of the tie but without result as the Czech’s had one shot at goal throughout the first 45 minutes which was off target and was saved by the shot stopper, as they were trying to compete with physicality and delivery from the likes of Coufal at set-pieces.
The first half finished goalless and at half time the second half looked like it would play out in a similar fashion, and it did so until the 59th minute. Vladimir Coufal launched a very high throw in the Czech’s box, which was nodded in by Ladislav Krejci with a strong header at the back post to put the Czechs 1-0 ahead which momentarily silenced the South Korean support.
However, this gave them something to fight for as eight minutes later they drew level through Hwang In-beom who received the ball with a fine touch outside of the Czech box, and showed the defenders a skill on the dribble before tucking a perfect finish in the bottom corner past the on-rushing Matej Kovar. Tomas Soucek thought he had grabbed the lead back for his nation, however his goal was ruled out by the assistant’s flag for being offside.
With ten minutes left, Hwang In-beom provided for the substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu and with no chance but to convert, steered the ball in off his foot past a helpless Matej Kovar, this grabbed the win for South Korea, and in the closing few minutes Tomas Hlozek tried to salvage a point for his nation however he was denied by the incredible stop from Kim Seung-gyu.
South Korea enjoyed 60% possession on the day with far more opportunities to win and Lee Kang-in was a clear contender for Man of the match while Hwang’s goal and assist puts him in a list of elite few that have managed to score in two successive World Cup games (excluding goals from penalties and own goals as per the FIFA regulations). This is a big start to the campaign for the Koreans as they look to try and secure qualification from Group A while the Czechs have it all to do.
