GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) – Hwang In-beom scored a goal and added another point as South Korea defeated the Czech Republic 2-1. 2026 world cup on Thursday night.
The first half was lackluster with jeers as both teams were sent off, but the Czech Republic took the lead in the 59th minute with captain Ladislav Krejci scoring a header from a long throw-in into the penalty area.
Korea tied the game in the 67th inning. A fan faked a shot and scored a goal. He cleared two Czech players with a clever move. The midfielder, who plays for Dutch club Feyenoord, scored a cross from the right side. Oh Hyun Gyu’s decisive move In a game played in the 80th inning in front of hundreds of empty seats at Guadalajara Stadium.
After the final whistle, the Korean national team celebrated with their fans behind the goal. Afterwards, the players posed for photos with their backs to the fans.
South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo said, “This was our first game and it was a very difficult game.” “I’m happy about the win, but what was even better was that the players didn’t give up and won. I knew we had enough to win, so at 1-1 I told the players to keep playing like they had been playing.”
This is the first time South Korea has won the opening game of a World Cup since defeating Greece in South Africa in 2010. South Korea has defeated a European opponent three times in a row in this tournament, following defeats against Portugal in 2022 and Germany in 2018.
Thanks to star forward Son Heung-min, South Korea controlled possession and outscored the Czech Republic, who were playing in the World Cup for the first time since 2006. South Korea, ranked 25th in the FIFA rankings, had most of the important scoring chances against Czech Republic, ranked 38th, but were unable to capitalize on them early on.
Son was aiming to become South Korea’s top scorer at the World Cup and become the Asian player with the most goals in the tournament. The 33-year-old former Tottenham star, who now plays for Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer, entered Thursday having scored three goals in the past three World Cups.
appear in his works 4th World CupSon had several good chances to score, but he missed the target in the first half and had his shot from close range saved in the second half.
The Czech Republic looked to have taken the lead again in the 77th minute with a set-piece, but Tomáš Soucek’s header was ruled offside.
“Probably the better team would have won,” Czech Republic coach Miroslav Koubek said. But he said the team could have done better if “a few mistakes” had not been made.
“We played very well. We could have tied it, we could have won it,” Kobeck said.
The announced number of spectators was 44,985 at the Guadalajara Stadium, which has a capacity of 45,664, including the following: FIFA President Gianni Infantino. There were many empty seats in the middle section of the stands, and other empty seats scattered throughout the stadium.
This is South Korea’s 11th consecutive World Cup appearance and 12th appearance in total, the most among Asian countries. Their best result was fourth place in a tournament co-hosted with Japan in 2002. Since then, no Korean team has made it past the top 16.
He will serve as co-host for Thursday’s other Group A match. Mexico beat South Africa 2-0 at the tournament opener in Mexico City.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
