South Korea Vs Czechia: Son Heung-min Leads 2026 Opener in Zapopan
South Korea vs Czechia opens South Korea’s 2026 World Cup campaign on Thursday at Estadio Guadalajara in Zapopan, Mexico, with Son Heung-min expected to lead the group’s second match of opening day. The Group A meeting starts at 8pm local time, or 02:00 GMT on Friday, and gives South Korea a first look at a section that also includes cohosts Mexico and South Africa.
Son Heung-min and South Korea
Son enters the opener after scoring twice in a recent friendly, a reminder of why South Korea will lean on their captain in a tournament that has often turned on one forward’s sharpest moment. He is set for his fourth appearance at the finals, while South Korea remain Asia’s most successful World Cup team and reached the last 16 in 2022.
That 2022 run still shapes the way South Korea are viewed here. Hwang Hee-chan’s stoppage-time winner against Portugal sent them into the knockout rounds, and he will be appearing at his third World Cup after saying, “If I can have another play like that, it will be great for myself and for our team” and “I am working hard for a moment like that.”
Czechia’s return to Group A
Czechia arrive ranked 40th in the world and back at the tournament after a 20-year absence, a rare return for a team with a deep but uneven World Cup history. As Czechoslovakia, they finished runners-up in 1934 and 1962, but since then have had only four World Cup appearances and only one past group-stage progression as an independent team, the quarterfinal run in 1990.
Their route to the 2026 finals came through dramatic penalty shootout wins in UEFA qualifiers, and the side now has to turn that edge into points against South Korea on day one. Miroslav Koubek was appointed coach in December 2025, giving him only a short runway before a match that can shape the tone of Group A immediately.
Schick, Soucek and the opener
Czechia’s attack brings names South Korea know well enough to respect. Patrik Schick, the Euro 2020 joint top scorer, leads a forward group that also includes Adam Hlozek, Pavel Sulc and Tomas Chory, the two-metre Slavia Prague striker.
Behind them, Tomas Soucek gives Czechia a top-level midfield anchor from West Ham, while Vladimir Darida, now 35, adds experience to a squad trying to manage a difficult opening stretch. South Korea counter with their own core of Son, Lee Kang-in and Kim Min-jae, and the opening night matchup in Zapopan leaves both teams with little margin in a group that starts fast and punishes slow starts.
For South Korea, the task is straightforward: use the opener to bank points before Mexico and South Africa tighten the group. For Czechia, the challenge is even more immediate, because a team back after two decades away has been handed a first test against one of Asia’s strongest sides.
