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South Korea v Czechia: World Cup 2026 – live | World Cup 2026
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4 mins: This is very poor. Four consecutive long balls into the channels exchanged by the two teams. Three come to nought, and the fourth earns Korea a throw-in deep in Czechia’s half, which they send backwards and begin some keep-ball across the back five.
3 mins: Czechia have had the better of the brief early exchanges, leaning on their physicality and willingness to get the ball forward as quickly as possible. Korea, by contrast, are keen to get the ball down and wait for gaps. Kim Min-jae things he’s found one with Son running the left channel but he’s flagged offside.
1 mins: Czechia immediately play the ball back to Kovar from the kick-off who then launches it long into the left channel. No surprises for their Plan A tonight. Korea are set up in a compact mid-low block with only Son free to do as he wishes.
Kick-off!
The second match of the 2026 World Cup is under way…
I reckon there are more Mexican green jerseys in the stands than Czech and Korean red. That will give you an idea of the less-than-partisan atmosphere.
Son scrunches his eyes tightly closed and places his hand over his heart as he sings his country’s national anthem. The Czechia tune is quite a mournful affair, so when the camera cuts to the 74 year old coach you could be forgiven for thinking you’re watching a memorial, not the immediate seconds preceding a World Cup encounter.
Here they come, into the magnificent Guadalajara volcanic crater. It’s a pretty muted introduction, and there are some gaps in the stands corresponding to the posh seats. I imagine Jaliscan canapes are pretty good so fair play to the great and the good for tucking in.
The teams are waiting in the tunnel, Czechia looking absolutely bloody huge White Walkers from Game of Thrones in their icy uniforms.
Former Scotland international Chris Iwelumo is on punditry duty for this one tonight. You may remember him for classic World Cup moments like this one against Norway.
Match officials tonight are all Egyptian, led by referee Amin Omar. This is the 40 year old’s World Cup debut.
Both teams usually wear red with black accents, but tonight the Czechs will be in their change strip of all white. Hopefully South Korea have steamed their Nike shirts.
Opening round matches are notoriously cagey risk-averse affairs, and this threatens to take the cake: two sides that would be happy with a draw, playing at altitude, with drinks and VAR breaks to factor in. Let’s hope there’s an early goal to open things up.
Conditions in Zapopan are not too bad. It is around 27C and falling, still, and there’s been wisps of rain drifting around. There was the threat of thunderstorms passing through but that appears to have subsided.
However, the main factor affecting the teams today will be the altitude. It is being played roughly 1,670 meters (5,480 feet) above sea level. For comparison, the Hawthorns – home of West Bromwich Albion – is the highest ground in English football, and that tops out at just 168 meters (551 feet).
South Korea, with over a year to plan for the tournament, spent their warm-up period acclimatising at altitude in Utah. The Czechs qualified so late they have had no such luxury.
Czechia tactics:
The gameplan was straightforward in Czechia’s warm-up matches: get the ball wide to the raiding Vladimir Coufal as often as possible and pack the box with height and physicality. Given the heat, altitude, and the proficiency of their opponents tonight, expect Czechia to sit back, neutralise South Korea’s attacking threat and attack via rapid transitions and set-pieces.
South Korea tactics:
Hong Myung-bo (and his influential Portuguese assistant João Aroso) pivoted from the proactive 4-4-2 that South Korea used to good effect against weaker continental opposition, to a more conservative 3-4-3 that offers greater defensive solidity. As anyone familiar with Manchester United under Ruben Amorim, system change is not without its teething problems. This is not yet a fluid side playing with automatismo.
Kim Min-jae is pivotal in holding the back three together, the wingbacks, Seol Young-woo on the right and Lee Tae-seok on the left, are critical in both directions, and Hwang In-beom is the man who knits everything together in midfield.
But while this system evolves, progress will rely on avoiding errors at the back and exploiting moments of individual brilliance by Lee Kang-in and Son Heung-min further forward.
Czechia form guide:
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The Czechs were the 40th of 42 nations to qualify. They finished the first Uefa group phase behind Croatia then edged past the Republic of Ireland and Denmark in Playoff Path D, both times on penalties following 2-2 draws.
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Since then Czechia have defeated Kosovo 2-1 in a farewell friendly in Prague, and Guatemala 3-1 in New Jersey.
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More broadly, Czechia’s form is hard to gauge because they have spent most of the past 18 months playing international minnows. As well as the two recent warm-up matches there was a 1-0 friendly win over San Marino in November, while during qualifying they were drawn against Montenegro, Gibraltar, and the Faroe Islands – and they lost once to the Faroe Islanders 2-1.
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They haven’t beaten a side ranked in the world’s top 50 since a 3-2 win at home to Ukraine in 2024, and they haven’t won a fixture at a major tournament since the round of 16 at Euro 2020/1.
South Korea form guide:
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They cruised through AFC qualifiers, securing their spot at the finals way back in June 2025. Not only that, they went the entire 16-match campaign unbeaten.
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Since then their program of friendlies has been a mixed bag with heavy defeats to Brazil at home (0-5) and Ivory Coast in Milton Keynes (0-4) balanced somewhat by a victory away to the USA (2-0).
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In their last ten matches South Korea have kept six clean sheets, winning each of them.
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Their two warm-up friendlies in Utah featured a 5-0 rout of Trinidad and Tobago and a 1-0 victory over El Salvador.
What about Czechia? David Čermák has forgotten more than I will ever know about the penalty shootout masters.
The spine of the team is experienced. Tomas Soucek remains the leader in midfield despite being stripped of the captaincy after the players failed to thank the fans after a 6-0 win against Gibraltar…
Ladislav Krejci, the hard-tackling Wolves centre-back, stepped in as captain and scored in both playoff matches and drove the team forward. In attack Patrik Schick is expected to be the main weapon again and his fitness improved for Bayer Leverkusen towards the end of the 2025-26 season.
Any gaps in your knowledge about South Korea? Fear not, Seo Hyung-wook has the only primer you need, and it’s not brimful of confidence.
Key figures such as Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae, Lee Kang-in, Lee Jae-sung and Hwang In-beom are all battling a cocktail of injuries, erratic club form and even being relegated to the bench.
The situation is particularly dire in central midfield, where a string of injuries have ruled out several candidates. In addition, Hwang has spent much of the season struggling to find his rhythm after suffering recurring physical setbacks.
Czechia XI
Czechia will also line up in a 3-4-3 with Alexandr Sojka handed a competitive debut alongside star man Tomáš Souček in midfield. The 23 year old was only called up for the first time for the pre-tournament friendlies.
1 Matěj Kovář; 6 Štěpán Chaloupek, 4 Robin Hranáč, 7 Ladislav Krejčí; 5 Vladimir Coufal, 22 Tomáš Souček, 24 Alexandr Sojka 20 Jaroslav Zelený; 17 Lukáš Provod, 15 Pavel Šulc, 10 Patrik Schick.
South Korea XI
The Taeguk Warriors line up as expected in a 3-4-3 spearheaded by captain and chief goalscorer Son Heung-min.
1 Kim Seung-gyu, 3 Lee Gi-hyuk, 4 Kim Min-jae, 2 Lee Han-beom, 22 Seol Young-woo, 6 Hwang In-beom, 8 Paik Seung-ho, 13 Lee Tae-seok, 19 Lee Kang-in, 10 Lee Jae-sung, 7 Son Heung-min.
Many great columns will be penned this World Cup but few will pack the punch of this evisceration of Gianni Infantino from Jonathan Liew.
Perhaps you still regard sporting spectacle as your cherished escape from politics. In which case enjoy your World Cup of games split into four quarters, decimated by heat and exhaustion, compromised by an unfair qualification process. Enjoy your largely meaningless group stage, the thousands of empty seats, the masked police standing guard just at the edge of shot, the long lingering shots of Infantino and JD Vance in the stands.
Have you completed your Bracketology yet? Mine gave me Spain defeating Argentina in the final and France edging England for third place.
Of course, DJ DG was the only man for the job. Shout out to his family.
What did you all make of the opening ceremony? Mexico is a reassuringly fanatical football nation and the passion from the stands was a much needed element of authenticity amongst the made-for-TV spectacle.
My personal highlight was the appearance of David Guetta on the big screen during the official World Cup anthem, looking like a billionaire DJ generated by AI slop. A handy metaphor for the times.
Some news from the opening match in Mexico City.
What did we learn from the opening match that might point to the progression of this World Cup? Among other things, it is going to be s l o w.
Even in relatively temperate conditions, and with few stoppages in play, the World Cup’s opening game still felt like a slog, which is likely to have set the tone for the tournament. With Fifa’s mandatory three-minute hydration breaks taken despite temperatures of just 22 degrees, the Brazilian referee, Wilton Sampaoi, did not blow his half-time whistle until 55 minutes after kick-off, even though just four minutes of added time had been played.
It seems almost inevitable that all matches in this competition will stretch over two hours and niggly contests with multiple stoppages played in hot conditions could end up lasting far longer.
Welcome to Estadio Guadalajara, in my opinion the most architecturally striking venue of the tournament. At 45,000 it is the second smallest arena of the World Cup, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in character.
The design was inspired by a volcano. The exterior features a sloping parkland that rises up to the stadium’s upper levels, with the white roof designed to resemble a cloud hovering over the summit. The seating inside is arranged like a red crater.
Known outside the World Cup as Estadio Akron, it is located in the city of Zapopan, part of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area in the state of Jalisco. It is the home of Liga MX side Chivas De Guadalajara.
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of the second match of the 2026 World Cup between South Korea and Czechia. Kick-off in this Group A clash at Estadio Guadalajara is 8pm local time (10pm EST / 3am BST / 12pm AEST).
Following Shakira’s shimmies, three red cards, and the fanatical hosts welcoming us all to the 2026 World Cup with a celebrated victory, the second of the tournament’s 104 matches looks set to be a more muted affair. It features two sides in indifferent form with modest expectations opening their campaigns during the graveyard shift at the competition’s second smallest venue.
South Korea arrive with plenty of World Cup pedigree but confidence dented by a couple of friendly hammerings. This is their 12th visit to the finals (an Asian record) and their 11th in succession (the fifth best active streak). They’ve won at least one match at five of the past six tournaments, progressing out of the group phase on three occasions, including in Qatar. But a 5-0 defeat to Brazil last year and a 4-0 trouncing by Ivory Coast in March has tempered ambitions.
Son Heung-min remains the focal point but the near-34 year old is no longer the devastating attacking force of his prime and has yet to find the back of the net in this season’s MLS. Other household names include Paris Saint-Germain playmaker Lee Kang-in, and Bayern Munich man mountain Kim Min-jae. Both are regular starters for their clubs in domestic competitions but are forced to settle for places on the bench in the Champions League.
Czechia return to the finals for the first time since 2006 and it’s only their second appearance since the break-up of Czechoslovakia. They qualified by the narrowest of margins, winning consecutive playoff penalty shootouts.
Patrik Schick is the standout, the Bayer Leverkusen striker averaging a goal every other game at international level. Tomáš Souček is prominent in midfield, and Vladimír Coufal is important on the right. Both will be familiar to fans of West Ham United.
At 74, Miroslav Koubek becomes the oldest coach in World Cup history tonight, but he will hold that record for barely two days, when 78 year old Dick Advocaat takes his seat in the Curaçao dugout.
I’ll be back shortly with team news and more preview content. Please feel free to keep me company while I’m around. The address is jonathan.howcroft.freelance@theguardian.com.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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