South Korea began their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with a victory. In a thrilling match, the team defeated the Czech Republic 2-1. South Korea secured the win after coming back from 1-0 down in the second half.
At the start of the match, both South Korea and the Czech Republic had several chances to score, but neither side could capitalize. In the 9th minute, South Korea got a chance to take the lead from a free kick, but the Czech defence thwarted their hopes. In the 11th minute, South Korea also failed to convert a corner. In the first half, Korea put significant pressure on the Czech defence but could not break through. Neither team managed to score in the first half.
However, the Czech Republic made an attacking start to the second half and found success in the 59th minute. Ladislav Krejčí put the team ahead 1-0 with a fine header. But after going 0-1 down, South Korea staged a remarkable comeback. In the 67th minute, Hong In-beom scored the team’s first goal to level the match at 1-1. After that, in the 80th minute, Oh Hyeon-gyu put South Korea ahead.
After taking a 2-1 lead, South Korea gave the Czech Republic no chance to come back. The Czech Republic played attacking football and tried to score several times but could not breach South Korea’s defence. In the end, South Korea won 2-1, making a winning start to the FIFA World Cup 2026.
