Arya News - Asian giants South Korea face two-time runners-up Czechia in the second match of the opening day of World Cup 2026.
Who : South Korea vs Czechia
What : FIFA World Cup 2026 Group A match
Where : Estadio Guadalajara, Zapopan, Mexico
When : Thursday, 8pm local time (02:00 GMT Friday)
How to follow : Keep up with all updates on Al Jazeera Sport
South Korea, Asia’s most successful team at the World Cup, begin their 2026 campaign with a game against Czechia, who are back at the tournament after a 20-year absence.
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But 40th-ranked Czechia are no pushovers. With players like Adam Hlozek, Patrik Schick and Pavel Sulc, they are more than capable of pulling off an upset.
Son Heung-min will be leading South Korea in his fourth World Cup appearance [File: Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters] Son leads South Korea’s charge
As always, all eyes will be on South Korea’s superstar Son Heung-min, who now plays his club football for Los Angeles FC.
Set for his fourth appearance at the finals, the 33-year-old former Tottenham winger could be appearing in his final tournament, though it’s not confirmed.
Fans will be hopeful of the captain featuring on the scoresheet after he scored twice in a recent friendly.
The Koreans reached the last 16 in 2022, with Hwang Hee-chan scoring a stoppage-time winner against Portugal to take his team into the knockout rounds. The Wolverhampton Wanderers forward is now keen for a repeat performance at the upcoming tournament.
“If I can have another play like that, it will be great for myself and for our team,” said Hwang, who will be appearing at his third World Cup. “I am working hard for a moment like that.
“Every match is important, but the first match is especially so.”
Czechia: Two-time runners-up
As Czechoslovakia, the Czech team finished runners-up in 1934 and 1962. But since then, their record has been poor, with only four appearances, including just one past the group stage – a quarterfinal run in 1990.
The Czechs are now back at the World Cup after 20 long years, having navigated their way to the finals through dramatic penalty shootout wins in the UEFA qualifiers.
The appointment of coach Miroslav Koubek in December 2025 turned around their fortunes as they went from having a crisis-hit campaign to finishing the job with flying colours.
Czechia’s Tomas Chory heads in a goal during the 3-1 tournament tune-up match against Guatemala on June 6 [File: David W Cerny] Now, after two decades, as they return to football’s grandest stage, the Czechs will hope to sneak into the knockouts.
With two-metre (6ft 7-inch) Slavia Prague striker Tomas Chory at their disposal, Koubek’s side will seek to impose their physicality on the South Koreans.
They are blessed with more attacking firepower in Bayer Leverkusen striker and Euro 2020 joint top scorer Schick, while Hoffenheim striker Hlozek offers another experienced option up front.
Koubek will also lean on West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek and 35-year-old Vladimir Darida to provide experience and stability.
How does the World Cup group stage work?
South Korea, Czechia, Mexico and South Africa are in Group A.
The top two teams from each of the 12 groups – along with the eight best third-placed teams – proceed to the next phase, the round of 32, which has been introduced at the World Cup for the first time.
All square in head-to-head record
South Korea and Czechia have met three times, winning one match each, while the other game ended in a draw.
Their last meeting dates back to June 2016 – exactly a decade ago – when South Korea emerged 2-1 winners in a friendly in Prague.
Form guide:
(Last five games, latest first)
South Korea: W-W-L-L-W
Czechia: W-W-W-W-W
Czechia are in fine form heading into the opener, having beaten Kosovo and Guatemala in their pre-World Cup friendlies. Before that, they beat Denmark and Ireland on penalties in the UEFA qualifying playoffs, and also thrashed Gibraltar.
South Korea, on the other hand, are in mixed form. They beat El Salvador and thrashed Trinidad and Tobago in the pre-World Cup friendlies, but lost to Austria and the Ivory Coast.
Where to watch South Korea vs Czechia?
Fans in South Korea can watch the game on platforms Chzzk and JTBC, with kickoff scheduled at 11am local time on Friday.
In Czechia, CT Sport Plus, CT Sport and Nova Action will show the game, which is set to begin at 4am local time on Friday.
Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch it on ITV, while those in the United States can tune in to Fox.
South Korea and Czechia team news
Coach Koubek has a selection headache awaiting.
With Hlozek recently recovering from injury, and Sulc and Lukas Provod also in the mix, Koubek needs to make the tough call on which two attackers will support Schick.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s coach Hong Myung-bo has to contend with some concerns.
Winger Bae Jun-ho – one of the youngest players in the squad – is a major doubt due to an ankle injury, but left-back Lee Tae-seok has returned to team training after a sore calf.
South Korea’s predicted starting XI
Kim Seung-gyu (goalkeeper); Kim Min-jae, Lee Han-beom, Lee Gi-hyuk; Seol Young-woo, Lee Tae-seok, Hwang In-beom, Paik Seung-ho; Lee Kang-in, Lee Jae-sung; Son Heung-min
Czechia’s predicted starting XI
Matej Kovar (goalkeeper); Vladimir Coufal, David Doudera, Tomas Holes, Ladislav Krejci, Jaroslav Zeleny; Tomas Soucek, Michal Sadilek; Adam Hlozek, Pavel Sulc, Patrik Schick
Watch out for Patrik Schick, Czechia’s main attacking threat [File: David W Cerny/Reuters] You can follow the action on Al Jazeera’s dedicated FIFA World Cup 2026 page with all the latest news, match build-up and live text commentary, and keep up to date with group standings, real-time match results and schedules.