South Korea came from a goal down to beat Czechia 2-1 in Guadalajara, with Hwang In-beom and Oh Hyeon-gyu turning the tournament opener on its head inside 21 second-half minutes.
Czechia struck first and led at the hour mark. Korea bossed possession, found a level they had not hit in the first half, and won it 2-1. Ladislav Krejci nodded in Vladimir Coufal's long throw on 59 minutes, and for about eight minutes it looked like the Czechs were going to mug Group A's live underdog. Then Hwang In-beom cut inside on 67 and clipped a finish off Lee Kang-in's slide-rule pass, and Oh Hyeon-gyu poked home from close range on 80 to finish the comeback.
Czechia3-4-2-1
South Korea3-4-2-1
Starting 11s.
Hong Myung-bo's side dominated the ball at 62 percent and ran up 464 passes to Czechia's 242, which is what you want to see from a side that needed a result. Son Heung-min was the constant menace early — wide on 39, denied by Matej Kovar on 56 — but it was the midfield that delivered when it mattered. Tomas Soucek thought he had levelled on 77, only for the flag to go up, and Kim Seung-gyu had to deny Michal Sadilek deep into stoppage time to lock it down. Oh later said he played through a 38-degree fever, which is the kind of detail that ages well if Korea make a run.
Show fees
FT
Spread
Advance
Total
Korea Republic(1-0-0)
2
-
-
+170
-
-
Czechia(0-0-1)
1
-
-
+217
-
-
In-Game
Whale Buys
Advance includes extra time & pens; spread + total settle on 90 minutes.
The market basically nailed the shape of this one. Korea were the favorites at kickoff and Czechia were the live dog, and that is exactly how it played out — Korea controlled, Czechia punched, Korea answered twice. The result that would have actually moved the board was a Czech win, and they were 8 minutes from getting one.
Now the group picture. Mexico are still the group-winner favorite at roughly 63 percent on the live board, but Korea have jumped up to about 34 percent after taking 3 points. Czechia are not dead — their round-of-16 chances are still sitting near 21 percent — but losing the matchup with the team they were chasing for second is the worst outcome short of getting blown out. They needed at least a draw here and didn't get it.
Next up, Korea get the heavyweight test of the group and a chance to put real distance between themselves and the chasers. Czechia have to win their next one or this gets very bleak very fast — Schick needs service, Coufal's set-piece deliveries need to keep coming, and they probably need Soucek on the right side of an offside flag. The market still gives them a path. It just got narrower.
South Africa0-1
Mexico0-1
Czechia2-1