South Korea comeback against Czechia and debut with victory in the World Cup
South Korea defeated Czechia 2-1 this Thursday (11), in Guadalajara, in the match that ended the first round of Group A of the 2026 World Cup.
The Czechs took the lead 14 minutes into the second half, thanks to Ladislav Krejcí's header. Later, Hwang In-beom and Oh Hyeon-gyu scored the goals that defined the South Koreans' comeback.
With the result, the South Korean team reached three points and placed itself in second place in the group. The Asian country is behind only Mexico, which beat South Africa 2-0 at the Azteca Stadium.
In the next round, the Asians face one of the World Cup hosts. The duel takes place next Thursday (18), at 10pm (Brasília time), again in Guadalajara. Czechia, on the other hand, will try to recover against the South Africans on the same date, at 1 pm, in Atlanta, in the United States.
About the match
After a well studied start, South Korea began to enjoy the game and had their first opportunity in the 12th minute, with a blocked shot from striker Son Heung-min. Afterwards, midfielder Lee Kang-in took a risk from outside the area and forced goalkeeper Matej Kovár to make a beautiful save.
Czechia's first opportunity came at the 20-minute mark. Corner taken in the area, the ball passed through the defense and fell to midfielder Tomás Soucek, who was unable to finish and wasted the chance to open the scoring.
The South Koreans were scary again in the 39th minute. Son received the ball in the middle, went through the marking and hit the ball to the right of the opponent's goal. A little earlier, the attacker himself tried from outside the area and sent it over the goal.
In stoppage time, Korea attempted pressure in the final minutes. Son crossed the line and entered the area, but was unable to complete the pass to finish with precision.
On the way back from the break, Lee Kang-in found a great pass for midfielder Hwang In-beom, who crossed the ball. Matej Kovár made the save and then got the rebound from midfielder Lee Jae-sung.
Then, 10 minutes into the second half, Son was triggered by a good pass from Jae-sung and, inside the area, shot over Kovár. At 15, winger Vladimír Coufal hit a throw-in into the area and defender Ladislav Krejcí headed it firmly to make it 1-0 in favor of the Czechs.
Despite the goal conceded, South Korea was unfazed on the field and continued exchanging passes to open up space in the opposing defense. In the 21st minute, In-beom received a beautiful pass, cut through the defense and finished with a dig to equalize the dispute.
Again in the air, Czechia found the net for the second time in the match, but the referee ruled that the goal scored by Tomás Soucek was offside. The South Korean comeback came in the 35th minute, when In-Beom crossed just enough for center forward Oh Hyeon-gyu to deflect and seal the Asian country's triumph.
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Source: CNN