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South Korea came from behind to beat Czech Republic 2–1 in their Group A opener, with In-Beom Hwang the man who turned it around — equalising with a clever finish from Kang-In Lee's pass, then laying on the winner for Hyeon-Gyu Oh after the Czechs had gone ahead through Ladislav Krejci's header from a long throw. South Korea dominated thoroughly, 62 per cent possession and nearly twice as many passes, so the lead was always against the run of play. Hwang becomes only the third South Korean player ever to score and assist in the same World Cup match, which feels like a stat that will follow him around very happily. South Korea are up and running in Group A; Czech Republic will need a very different performance if they want to avoid an early exit.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1South Korea have appeared at every World Cup since 1986 — that's ten straight tournaments, the longest active streak of any Asian nation. But being consistent qualifiers and actually doing something once you're there are two different things. Their one shining moment remains 2002, when they co-hosted the tournament and made it to the semi-finals in scenes that still have a slightly conspiratorial asterisk next to them if you ask anyone European.
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2Czech Republic scraped through qualifying in the most dramatic way possible: they finished second in their UEFA group, then beat the Republic of Ireland and Denmark in play-offs — both on penalties. So they're tournament-hardened before the tournament has even started. They haven't been at a World Cup since 2006, which feels like a long time but also explains why half their fans look slightly dazed.
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3Son Heung-min is South Korea's everything. Captain, top scorer, most recognisable face — the Tottenham legend, now at Los Angeles FC, turns 34 during this tournament and this will almost certainly be his last World Cup. If you know nothing else about South Korea, you know about Son. Drop his name and you sound like you've been watching for years.
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4Patrik Schick is the Czech name to have ready. The Bayer Leverkusen striker scored five goals in qualifying and has six in seven major tournament appearances for Czechia — a genuinely impressive record. He's the type of striker who doesn't touch the ball much but makes it count when he does. He's also the man who scored that jaw-dropping goal from the halfway line against Scotland at Euro 2020, if you want an instant conversation piece.
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5This is effectively a must-win for both sides. Group A also features Mexico and South Africa, and finishing outside the top two sends you home. Lose this and you're immediately playing catch-up against Mexico — not a fun position to be in. The winner of this game goes into their next match with their nerves significantly more settled.
Team Talking Points
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1South Korea's tournament ended with a 1-0 loss to South Africa on June 24 in their final Group A game, a result that eliminated them and simultaneously sent South Africa through to their first-ever World Cup knockout stage. Finishing third with one win from three games, it's a tidy but unremarkable line for a squad that had opened with real promise.
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2That promise showed on day one — a 2-1 comeback win over Czechia, South Korea's opening game of the tournament. Hwang In-beom equalised after Czechia's early header, then set up Oh Hyeon-gyu for the winner with 10 minutes left. It's the kind of gutsy, from-behind win that makes a tournament opener memorable.
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3The decision that will be talked about for a while is manager Hong Myung-bo's call to drop captain Son Heung-min from the decisive final group game against South Africa. It didn't pay off, South Korea lost and went out, and it reopened plenty of questions back home about the manager's judgment at the biggest possible moment. Nothing personal in it for Son — these things happen to captains all the time — but the timing made it sting.
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4Son Heung-min is the name every non-fan should still know: South Korea's captain and all-time record cap-holder, at his fourth World Cup and one of the most respected players of his generation. Being an unused substitute for his side's tournament-deciding match, potentially his last at a World Cup, is a strange note for a career like his to end this chapter on.
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5South Korea leave with a group-stage exit and a live debate about what comes next, both for the manager and for a squad that will eventually have to plan for football after Son. There's a decent core here — Hwang In-beom, Oh Hyeon-gyu and others showed real quality — but the next four years are as much about succession planning as tactics.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Their captain and all-time record cap-holder didn't even get off the bench in the game that ended their World Cup — that's the kind of decision people will still be arguing about long after the final whistle.
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Avoid saying
"Son Heung-min had a poor World Cup" — he barely played in the game that mattered most, benched by his own manager, so pin this one on team selection, not on him.
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1Czechia's World Cup ended in the group stage, and it wasn't especially close — a loss to Korea Republic, a draw with South Africa, then a 3-0 defeat to co-hosts Mexico that eliminated them with a game to spare. Fourth in a four-team group is about as clear-cut an exit as it gets.
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2The one point of the campaign came from a 1-1 draw with South Africa, sandwiched between two defeats — a fair reflection of a tournament where nothing quite clicked.
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3Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick came in as Czechia's main goal threat, having recently become the first Czech player to reach 100 goals across Europe's top five leagues. He managed just one shot on target across all three games — the kind of quiet tournament that happens to strikers sometimes, and no reflection on what he's done for his country over the years.
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4Schick announced his retirement from international football immediately after the group-stage exit, closing out his Czechia career at a World Cup rather than fading out between qualifiers — there's something fitting about going out on the biggest stage available, even in defeat.
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5Czechia will regroup for the next cycle with a new focal point up front. It's a group-stage exit to forget, but Schick leaving the national side on his own terms, at a World Cup, is the kind of ending most international careers don't get.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Their record scorer bowed out of international football the moment Czechia went out — not with a whimper, but on his own terms, at a World Cup. That's a better exit than the football gave him.
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Avoid saying
"Should've easily got out of that group" — they finished bottom of four with one point and a 3-0 loss to the hosts. There's no angle where that reads as an easy group gone wrong; it just didn't work.