GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- Hwang In-Beom scored a goal and set up another as South Korea rallied to defeat Czechia 2-1 in the second match of the 2026 World Cup on Thursday night.
After a lackluster first half in which both teams were jeered as they left the field, Czechia took the lead in the 59th minute on a header by captain Ladislav Krejcí after a long throw-in into the penalty area.
South Korea equalized in the 67th, when Hwang scored after faking a shot with a nifty move to clear two Czech players. He then made the cross from the right flank for Oh Hyeon-Gyu's decisive strike in the 80th in a match played in front of hundreds of empty seats at Guadalajara Stadium.
"It was our first game and a very difficult one," South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo said. "The win itself makes me happy, but what's even more positive is that our boys won by not giving up. I knew that we were more than capable of winning, so at 1-1, I told the boys to keep playing the way we've been playing."
It was South Korea's first opening-round World Cup win since beating Greece in 2010 in South Africa. South Korea beat a European opponent in the tournament for a third straight time, following wins over Portugal in 2022 and Germany in 2018.
The South Korean squad celebrated with its fans behind one of the goals after the final whistle. The players later posed for a photo with the fans behind them.
Let by star forward Son Heung-Min, South Korea controlled possession and outshot the Czechs, who were making their first World Cup appearance since 2006. The South Koreans, ranked 25th by FIFA, had most of the significant scoring chances against the 38th-ranked Czechs but failed to capitalize early.
Son was looking to become South Korea's top goal scorer at the World Cup and the Asian player with the most goals in the tournament. The 33-year-old former Tottenham star, who now plays for LAFC, entered Thursday having scored three goals over three prior World Cups.
Appearing in his fourth World Cup, Son had a couple of good opportunities to add to his tally but missed wide in the first half and had a close-range shot saved in the second.
The Czechs thought they had retaken the lead with another set piece in the 77th, but Tomás Soucek was ruled offside on his header.
Czechia coach Miroslav Koubek said, "Probably the better team won." But he said his team could have had a better outcome if it weren't for "some mistakes."
"We played very well, it could have been a draw, and we could have won as well," Koubek said.
The announced attendance at the 45,664-capacity Guadalajara Stadium was 44,985, a crowd that included FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Sections in the middle of the stands had many unoccupied seats, and other empty seats were scattered across the stadium.
South Korea are making their 11th straight World Cup appearance and 12th overall, the most of any Asian country. Their best result was a fourth-place finish at the tournament they co-hosted with Japan in 2002. Since then, the South Koreans have never gone beyond the round of 16.
In the other Group A match Thursday, co-host Mexico defeated South Africa 2-0 in the tournament opener in Mexico City.