Corea del Sur remonta a Chequia en su debut mundialista

South Korea did not wait for a highlight to define its World Cup 2026 opener. After Ladislav Krejci put Czechia in front at Estadio Guadalajara, Hwang In-beom pulled the match back in the 67th minute and then floated the decisive ball to Oh Hyeongyu for the winner in the 80th, completing a 2-1 comeback that changed the tone of Group A.

The sequence mattered because it showed South Korea winning the game in stages, not by accident. Hwang’s equalizer steadied a side that had been forced to chase from behind, and his later pass to Oh Hyeongyu exposed Czechia on the right side of the box. Oh took the ball down the channel, drove toward the edge of the area and finished with his left foot, a clean ending to a move built on patience, timing and composure under pressure. Hwang was named Player of the Match, a fitting recognition for the midfielder who first reset the game and then helped decide it.

For South Korea, this was more than three opening points. The victory marked its 12th World Cup final appearance and 11th straight qualification, a run that now includes a group-stage breakthrough in Qatar 2022, when the team advanced past the first round for the first time in 12 years. That background gives the result a larger weight: South Korea is no longer merely surviving on the World Cup stage, but showing the resilience to absorb an early setback and still take control of a contest that was slipping away.

Czechia, meanwhile, returned to the World Cup after 20 years out of the tournament, making the Guadalajara match a significant benchmark for Miroslav Koubek’s side as well. The setting also underscored the scale of the competition itself: the 2026 World Cup is the 23rd edition, the first with 48 teams and 104 matches, spread across Canada, Mexico and the United States. In that expanded field, South Korea’s response in Guadalajara suggested a team prepared for the longer road ahead.