South Korea open their 2026 World Cup campaign against Czechia on Thursday night in Zapopan, starting a Group A match that could quickly shape the standings at Estadio Guadalajara. The second game of the opening day kicks off at 8pm local time, or 02:00 GMT on Friday.
For South Korea, this is the first step in another tournament run that already carries expectations. They arrive as the world's 25th-ranked side, Asia's most successful team at the World Cup and former semifinalists, while Czechia come in ranked 40th and back at the finals after a 20-year absence.
That gap in ranking does not make the fixture straightforward. South Korea may be favoured, but Czechia have already shown they can survive pressure on the road to the tournament, reaching the finals through dramatic penalty shootout wins in UEFA qualifying. In a group that also includes cohosts Mexico and South Africa, an opening result matters beyond the two teams on the field.
Hwang Hee-chan is one of the figures carrying that burden. The 29-year-old forward will be appearing at his third World Cup after his stoppage-time winner against Portugal in 2022 sent South Korea into the knockout rounds, and he has said he is working for another moment like that. After scoring twice in a recent friendly, he goes into the opener with the kind of form South Korea will want beside Son Heung-min.
Son, 33, is set for his fourth appearance at the finals and arrives in Mexico as a former Tottenham winger now playing club football for Los Angeles FC. South Korea still have the more familiar World Cup record — they reached the last 16 in 2022 — but Czechia bring their own history, with runner-up finishes as Czechoslovakia in 1934 and 1962, then only four World Cup appearances since. Their only previous trip beyond the group stage in that span was a quarterfinal run in 1990.
Miroslav Koubek, appointed in December 2025, has put together a side that mixes experience and threat. Patrik Schick, the Bayer Leverkusen striker and Euro 2020 joint top scorer, is the obvious finishing option, while Hoffenheim's Adam Hlozek, West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek, 35-year-old Vladimir Darida and the two-metre Slavia Prague striker Tomas Chory give Czechia enough size and directness to trouble a top-ranked opponent.
The match in Guadalajara is South Korea's opener, but it is also the kind of first test that can sharpen a group before Mexico and South Africa arrive in the picture. For Hwang, the memory of Portugal still hangs over the tournament. For both teams, Thursday is where the campaign begins for real.
