South Korea and Czechia capped off day one of the World Cup with a three-goal thriller which saw the Koreans score two goals unanswered to secure the comeback victory.
South Korea wins its first FIFA World Cup opening match since 2010 🇰🇷 pic.twitter.com/58tMO4MQ2i
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The first half was quiet in terms of goals; however, with South Korea outshooting Czechia eight to two, it seemed like the Koreans were just a mistake away from going ahead.
Going into the second half it felt like all momentum was solely in the hands of South Korea, but a long throw by Vladimír Coufal followed by a Ladislav Krejcí header saw the Czechs take a 1-0 in the 59th minute.
Czechia would retain their advantage until the 67th minute when South Korea’s In-Beom Hwang showed his physicality in a one-on-two scoring opportunity.
Hwang’s cutback sent both Czech center back Robin Hranác and goalkeeper Matej Kovár the wrong way, allowing him to chip in a shot that just crossed the line right before Krejcí could intervein.
In the 78th minute, Czechia seemingly took the lead right back after scoring what seemed to be their second goal from a set piece when Tomás Soucek buried a free kick from outside the box. But the offside flag nullified the goal and kept the contest knotted at one a piece.
More late game chaos came just two minutes later in the 80th when Hwang lifted a cross into the box and Hyeon-Gyu Oh met it with a first touch strike that rippled itself into the back of the net.
With Oh’s goal, South Korea secured the 2-1 victory in come back fashion.
Both day one winners Mexico and South Korea will meet on Thursday at 9 p.m. for a match that is surely to be exciting.
As for Czechia, a bittersweet loss saw the county score its first goal in the World Cup in almost two decades.
Their next match up will be against South Africa, taking place on Thursday at noon.
Follow Adrian Murillo Silva on Instagram @adrianms_official
