FIFA World Cup

KOR Korea Republic Korea Republic - CZE Czechia Czechia

Korea Republic Korea Republic

Czechia Czechia

Estadio Guadalajara(44,985 Spectators)

Amin Mohamed Omar

Korea complete Czech comeback

Bayern's Kim Min-jae (r.) and Mainz's Lee Jae-sung started as South Korea began Group A with victory over the Czech Republic in Guadalajara. The Europeans took the lead just before the hour when captain Ladislav Krejčí headed in a long throw from Hoffenheim's Vladimir Coufal, but Hwang In-beom levelled shortly after. Tomáš Souček had a goal disallowed for offside before substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu put Korea ahead after 80 minutes. Hoffenheim's Adam Hložek came close to a late equaliser for the Czechs, who also had Robin Hranáč and Patrik Schick in their starting XI.

End of second half

Full-time

90'

+ 6

Yellow card

Gihyuk Lee

84'

Substitution

Mojmir Chytil

Alexandr Sojka

84'

Substitution

Jinseob Park

Seung Ho Paik

84'

Substitution

Jingyu Kim

Inbeom Hwang

80'

Hyeongyu Oh

GOAL!

2:1

Assist:I. Hwang

Goal probability

Goal probability determines the likelihood that the ball will land in the goal from every position on the pitch. The value is based on large amounts of data from previous years; factors such as shot angle, distance to goal and opponent pressure - as well as mathematical models.

48 %

Distance to Goal

The distance to goal is measured at the time of the shot - from the position of the ball to the center of the goal.

6.07 m

69'

Substitution

Hyeongyu Oh

Heungmin Son

69'

Substitution

Jisung Eom

Taeseok Lee

67'

Inbeom Hwang

GOAL!

1:1

Assist:K. Lee

Goal probability

12 %

Distance to Goal

The distance to goal is measured at the time of the shot - from the position of the ball to the center of the goal.

14.79 m

64'

Substitution

Michal Sadilek

Lukas Provod

64'

Substitution

Tomáš Chorý

Patrik Schick

64'

Substitution

Adam Hložek

Pavel Šulc

62'

Substitution

Heechan Hwang

Jaesung Lee

59'

Ladislav Krejčí

GOAL!

0:1

Assist:V. Coufal

Goal probability

16 %

Distance to Goal

The distance to goal is measured at the time of the shot - from the position of the ball to the center of the goal.

7.34 m

Kick-off!

Half-time

Kick-off!

How they got here: South Korea

South Korea went unbeaten through this World Cup qualifying cycle, winning 11 games and drawing five of their 16 matches. This is their 11th straight appearance in the finals of this tournament, with their best performance coming as co-hosts in 2002, when they finished fourth.

How they got here: Czechia

Czechia finished second in Group L of UEFA qualifying, therefore needing to navigate the play-offs to make it to the finals. They did just that, defeating the Republic of Ireland on penalties in the semi-finals before another spot-kick triumph over Denmark secured their qualification. This is the country's first participation in 20 years, and just their second following the split of Czechoslovakia in 1992.

Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 involvement

There are no fewer than seven Bundesliga players across these two nations' squads. Robin Hranáč, Vladimír Coufal (both Hoffenheim), Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen) and Adam Hložek (Hoffenheim) are part of the Czechia group, while Minjae Kim (Bayern Munich), Jae-sung Lee (Mainz) and Jens Castrop (Borussia Mönchengladbach) were named in South Korea's roster.

Welcome!

Follow all of the action as South Korea take on Czechia in Group A of the FIFA World Cup 2026, with the game kicking off at 4.00am CEST in Guadalajara, Mexico.