South Korea came from a goal down to defeat Czechia 2-1 in a 2026 FIFA World Cup Group A clash at Estadio Akron in Zapopan on Friday morning.
The Taegeuk Warriors fell behind to Ladislav Krejci’s opener for the Narodak just before the hour mark, but Hwang In-Beom scored a superb equaliser and provided the assist for Oh Hyeon-Gyu’s 80th-minute winner as the Asian side joined Mexico at the top of the standings on three points.
The first half saw the teams mostly cancel each other out, though it was South Korea who enjoyed the better chances – most notably in the 12th and 39th minutes when Lee Han-Beom and Song Heung-Min missed a header and shot from the edge of the box respectively.
The first opportunity of the second half went the way of South Korea in the 56th minute, with Lee Kang-In putting Son Heung-Min in behind the defence but the former Tottenham Hotspur forward was denied one-on-one by Czechia goalkeeper Matej Kovar.
Czechia then broke the deadlock just before the hour mark: Vladimir Coufal speared a long throw-in into the danger zone, and Ladislav Krejci timed his run perfectly to power home a header at the near post for 1-0.
The Taegeuk Warriors restored parity in the 67th minute: Lee Kang-In played Hwang In-Beom into the danger area and the latter superbly dummied with his left foot, before deftly chipping beyond Kovar and several defenders with a right-footed effort that-trickled over the goal line for 1-1.
Tomas Soucek thought he had put the Europeans back in front in the 77th minute when he arrowed home a header from a free kick, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
And South Korea soon completed the turnaround with a second goal. Hwang In-Beom was again influential, running in behind down the right flank before firing in a low cross to pick out Oh Hyeon-Gyu, who found the back of the net via Kovar’s right hand for a 2-1 lead in the 80th minute.
Narodak almost came up with an immediate reply, again via a long throw-in, as a flick-on found Adam Hlozek, who volleyed on goal but saw his effort turned away by Kim Seung-Gyu.
And the South Korean goalkeeper made another key save in injury time, diving low to his right to smother a low drive from Michal Sadilek, sealing a famous win for the Taegeuk Warriors.
The teams will continue their Group A campaigns next week, with Czechia facing South Africa in Atlanta in the early evening of Thursday 18 June (18:00 CAT), and South Korea tackling Mexico in Zapopan in the early morning of Friday 19 June (03:00 CAT).
South Korea (0) 2 (Hwang IB 67’, Oh Hyeon-Gyu 80’)
Czechia (0) 1 (L. Krejci 59’)
SOUTH KOREA: Kim SG, Lee HB, Kim MJ, Lee GH, Seol YW, Hwang IB (Kim JG 84’), Paik SH (Park JS 84’), Lee TS (Eom JS 69’), Lee KI, Lee JS (Hwang HC 62’), Son HM (Oh HG 69’)
CZECHIA: M. Kovar, S. Chaloupek, R. Hranac, L. Krejci, V. Coufal, T. Soucek, A. Sojka (M. Chytil 85’), J. Zeleny, L. Provod (M. Sadilek 64’), P. Sulc (A. Hlozec 64’), P. Schick (T. Chory 64’)
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