World Cup: South Korea beat returnee Czechia as six Bundesliga players feature

South Korea came from behind to beat Czechia 2-1 in the second game of the 2026 World Cup. After a slow start to the game, the last thirty minutes had end-to-end action between evenly-matched teams.

Six Bundesliga players – Bayern's Kim Min-jae and Mainz's Lee Jae-sung of South Korea and Robin Hranáč, Vladimír Coufal and Adam Hložek (all Hoffenheim) and Patrik Schick (Leverkusen) from Czechia – played the closely-fought encounter. Borussia Mönchengladbach's Jens Castrop was an unused substitute for the winners.

In their first World Cup game since 2006 in Germany, it took a while for Czechia to have their first shot on target. However, they didn't need a second invitation as Ladislav Krejčí headed home from a long throw-in by Coufal in the hour mark. The Hoffenheim wingback recorded a personal best eight assists in his debut Bundesliga campaign.

Krejčí, who was controversially handed the captain's armband by the Czechia federation months ago, was also instrumental in their playoff victories that got them into the World Cup. Suddenly, the game came to life in the final half hour. South Korea responded with a brilliant finish from Feyenoord's In-Beom Hwang before Coufal denied another assist when former club teammate and captain Tomáš Souček scored from an offside position.

At the other end, Hwang turned provider as the World Cup regulars completed the comeback. Oh Hyeon-Gyu, who came very close to joining VfB Stuttgart last summer, netted the all-important goal ten minutes after coming on as a substitute. Seung-Gyu Kim made a couple of excellent saves late in the game to secure the three points.

Group leaders Mexico and South Korea will lock horns on matchday two, while Czechia and South Africa battle to earn their first points.