South Korea wins 2-1 against Czech Republic in World Cup opener

The South Asians' response was not long in coming. Hwang In-Beom, who had been brought on five minutes earlier for Jae-Sung Lee and is under contract with Dutch Eredivisie side Feyenoord Rotterdam, scored the equalizer in the 66th minute. Hwang latched onto a through ball, skipped past Robin Hranac in the box, and lifted the ball over Matej Kovar, who formerly played for Bayer Leverkusen and now stands between the posts for PSV Eindhoven.

Hwang equalizes with a lob

In the 78th minute, the match appeared to tip when Tomas Soucek converted a free kick into the net. However, the goal was disallowed for offside following a VAR review. Shortly after, the Asians struck coldly. Following a combination involving Seung-Ho Paik and Hwang In-Beom, substitute Hyeon-gyu Oh finished a counterattack in the 81st minute to make it 2-1, the final score.

Goalkeeper Seung-Gyu Kim secured the narrow lead with strong saves against Adam Hlozek in the 82nd minute and against Michal Sadilek in the third minute of stoppage time. For long stretches, South Korea had dictated play and at one point led 8-2 in shots on target. The only downside was the disappointing performance of superstar and captain Son Heung-min, South Korea's all-time leading goalscorer, who repeatedly appeared dangerously in front of the Czech goal but remained inaccurate or was denied by the goalkeeper.

Czech Republic has been waiting 20 years for a World Cup

For the Czech Republic, it was the first World Cup appearance in 20 years. The squad around coach Koubek had waited 7,295 days for another appearance at a final tournament, their last coming in Germany. The starting eleven featured five Bundesliga professionals in total, including Hoffenheim's Robin Hranac and Vladimir Coufal, as well as Patrik Schick up front.

Coach Myung-bo Hong, whose team has been a regular fixture at World Cups since 1986, can head into the remaining group-stage matches with confidence after the opening win. As early as June 19, the next major hurdle awaits in the same stadium: South Korea will then face host nation Mexico, which won its first match against South Africa 2-0. For the Czechs, the next fixture is on June 18 against South Africa, before their tournament is also likely to end in the group stage.

Outlook: Duel with Mexico as the next benchmark

The victory sees South Korea join Mexico at the top of the Group A standings. The clash between the two opening-day winners on Thursday evening German time is therefore likely to be decisive in the battle for top spot in the group. A total of four World Cup matches are being held in Guadalajara.