Guadalajara stadium

South Korea Hong Myungbo: South Korea came from a goal down to defeat Czechia and start their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign with a 3-1 win at Guadalajara Stadium on Friday (IST).

Strikes from Hwang In-beom and Oh Hyeon-gyu sealed a perfect start for the East Asian side who had found themselves trailing to Ladislav Krejci's goal despite dominating the game.

Kovar saved a fierce left-footed strike from Lee Kang-in in the 14th minute before Son Heungmin, making his fourth FIFA World Cup appearance, sent a couple of decent opportunities off target and then couldn’t quite connect with another chance in first-half stoppage time. Son was denied again 11 minutes into the second period, once more finding Kovar in his way.