Summary
Thank you for joining me for a match that promised little and eventually delivered handsomely. I’ll sign off with the first cut match report and a reminder to stay tuned for all the latest news and analysis as the 2026 World Cup bursts into life. See you back here soon.
Next up in Group A we have the two opening match winners playing each other for what you must assume is top spot and the easiest passage into the knockouts – that one is here again in Guadalajara, and the two opening match losers battling for survival in Atlanta.
Czechia were limited. They arrived with a game plan of asserting themselves physically over their opponents but South Korea, and Kim in particular, were rock solid. Set-pieces were their main source of attacking threat and it was a long throw of rare quality that opened the scoring. I’d fancy them to beat South Africa but if they make the round of 32 it’s hard to see them troubling anyone else.
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Lee Kang-in was busy and showed plenty of class, and Kim Min-jae was a rock at the back, but it was the scorer of Korea’s equaliser, Hwang In-beom, who was the game’s most important player, dictating terms in midfield, keeping his side in motion, shifting Czechia’s defence around and making decisive forward runs when his team lacked a cutting edge. Credit also to Kim Seung-gyu who made the saves his side needed late on.
A match that offered little in the first half sprung to life after the break with three goals. Czechia opened the scoring through a superbly executed set-piece routine before South Korea’s dominance of possession and ability to work the ball through the lines in the final third paid off.
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Full-time: South Korea 2-1 Czechia
They did it the hard way but South Korea open their World Cup campaign with a win.
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90+5 mins: Another soft free-kick goes Korea’s way and they hump it long to play for territory.
90+4 mins: That was a clutch diving save. Korea then scramble in defence to shut down the second ball.
90+3 mins: SO CLOSE TO THE EQUALISER! Czechia send the ball long, pick up the scraps and Hlozek feeds Sadilek in space inside the box but his driven effort is saved low to his right by the South Korean keeper.
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90+2 mins: No cards have been issued tonight, which is a surprise given the way the modern game is played and refereed. Czechia concede another collision free-kick in the middle of the park and again South Korea can take the sting out of the game.
90+1 mins: South Korea win a free-kick on halfway and milk the clock.
90 mins: Six minutes of stoppage time for Czechia to find an equaliser.
89 mins: Czechia enjoy a spell of possession but they do little with it. They shift it from one player to another, seemingly waiting for a runner ahead to target directly but none presents and eventually they just lump a route one through the keeper.
87 mins: Korea have managed to calm this match down again, controlling possession in midfield, working the ball around, keep Czechia in their own half and in perpetual motion. When they concede a turnover the Czechs are exhausted and unable to fashion a concerted attack, allowing Hwang the chance to get into the box, but once he’s there he tries to do too much and he’s dispossessed.
85 mins: Hwang does superbly to spin with his back to goal and feed Eom down the let but the substitute runs the ball out of play. Still, South Korea will be happy with play at that end of the pitch.
84 mins: Czechia win a free-kick on halfway that they hump long. Korea do well to repel the first effort then hack the second ball clear. That has been the story of their defensive effort all night.
82 mins: Both teams go to their benches again as the altitude and heat takes its toll. Park and Kim on for South Korea, Chytil for Czechia. After an unpromising start this match has come to life.
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81 mins: Almost an immediate equaliser! Another brilliant long throw from the right, flicked on in the melee, and Hlozek has time and space at the far post but his effort is saved brilliantly on the line by the scrambling Kim Seung-gyu.
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80 mins: Korea work the ball down the right channel, Hwang does well to get to it and hook over a perfect low cross into the corridor of uncertainty where the substitute Oh steams onto it and forces it home on the slide from point blank range.
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GOAL! South Korea 2-1 Czechia (Oh, 80)
From a goal down to a goal ahead!
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78 mins: South Korea go down the other end and threaten through Lee Kang-in but they can’t find the final ball.
76 mins: GOAL! Set-piece magic from Czechia again! Beautiful delivery from the left and Soucek is first to it to thunder another unstoppable header…
Hang on. The flag is up for offside! Superb decision in real time from the assistant. Soucek had just set off a fraction too soon and his white shoulder was visibly in front of the red defensive line. Credit also to the Korean defensive for such a brave high defensive line. They got it right by a matter of inches.
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75 mins: Hlozek goes down on the corner of the box under pressure from Lee Han-beom. Good opportunity here for Czechia.
73 mins: Superb skill from Lee Kang-in to spin away from Krejčí and win a free-kick on halfway. You’ve seen yellow cards given for less but I reckon the referee acknowledged the defender could do little do avoid giving away a foul after such a brilliant turn.
72 mins: What will the ambition of the two sides be now? There’ll be plenty of tired bodies playing at altitude in warm conditions. Errors must be minimised.
69 mins: The hydration advert break comes at a good time for me, as after that goal South Korea made a double change with Son Heung-min making way for Oh Hyeon-gyu. Eom Ji-sung is also on the field for Lee Tae-seok.
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67 mins: Back to the midfield pass-and-move for Korea. Hwang In-beom is at the heart of it, and just like his earlier opportunity on the right he ghosts into space in the left channel, picked out by a sumptuous through-ball. He still has plenty to do though but as he drifts into the box he shapes to shoot on his left, drags the ball back, bounces three Czechs to the deck and clips a right-footed effort into the far corner with a shot so gentle it seems to move in slow motion until it dribbles over the line. Excellent finish and Korea are deservedly back in this.
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GOAL! South Korea 1-1 Czechia (Hwang In-beom, 67)
The equaliser didn’t take long, and it is richly deserved.
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64 mins: A few passages of broken play following the goal and the substitutions, which suits Czechia, who will not be happy to defend deep and keep Korea at arm’s length.
62 mins: And now Czechia replace their entire forward line in a triple substitution. On come Adam Hložek, Tomáš Chorý, and Michal Sadílek.
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61 mins: Korea make an immediate change with Hwang Hee-chan replacing Lee Jae-sung.
60 mins: Football eh? Korea have dominated possession and shown the more technically, but it’s Czechia who have taken their opportunity. That was a brilliant set-piece. Credit where it’s due.
59 mins: Of course it’s a header from a set-piece, and this is as pure as they come. An absolute rocket of a long throw from the edge of the box on the right, fizzing over the Korean defender at the near post and onto the forehead of the onrushing Ladislav Krejčí who powers home from six yards out. Brutal and effective.
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GOAL! South Korea 0-1 Czechia (Krejčí, 59)
Against the run of play, Czechia are ahead!
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57 mins: If Korea don’t find a goal here they will feel like this is three points that got away against a side there for the taking.
55 mins: Kovar denies Son again! Textbook Korean pass and move through midfield from Hwang In-beom to Lee Jae-sung who eases the ball through to Son but as he shapes to shoot on the edge of the six-yard box Kovar is out quickly to smother the effort at source a la starfish Peter Schmeichel. The corner is flicked away and Korea recycle from halfway.
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54 mins: Korea are now dominating possession, keeping the ball away from the increasingly conservative Czechs.
53 mins: Schick is starting to get frustrated with how little change he’s getting from Kim and the poor service he’s receiving from his colleagues. It’s been a long lonely night for the Bayer Leverkusen striker so far.
51 mins: Korea have resumed where they left off before the break, asserting themselves in defence, working the ball neatly in midfield, and using Son’s ability to turn in the final third and drive towards goal.
49 mins: Kovar double save! Czechia drop far too deep and put no pressure on the Korean midfield as they pick their way slowly through the lines until Hwang In-beom can ghost in behind and shoot across goal from the edge of the box. His drive is close enough for Kovar to parry – he should claim it or push it away from danger – but instead he just blocks it into the path of Lee Jae-sung but his slide is repelled by the recovering keeper.
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48 mins: Czechia earn a corner on the left. Coufal delivers an inswinger dangerously, dipping just past the near post, but with the ball bouncing it’s a Korean boot first to it to hack clear.
47 mins: Shick and Kim have a right old tussle on halfway in an 80s throwback. Again it’s a demonstration of Korea’s fortitude.
46 mins: We’re back under way in Guadalajara. No changes from either side at the break. Even more obvious empty seats in the posh sections.
Ok, nearly time for the second half. Just time to squeeze in this column from Pablo Iglesias Maurer who was at the Azteca for the opening match.
They broke into song at the final whistle, serenading the team, and each other, with a deafening rendition of Cielito Lindo. It was a beautiful scene. By the time fans started spilling out of the Azteca’s giant portals and into the surrounding streets, much of the strife between protesters and police had died down. It will surely return soon: Mexico’s social and economic problems will not be solved by football. To those in the Azteca on Thursday, El Tri did at least provide a respite.
OPTIMISM ALERT. Here’s Jim Denvir:
“There’s so much to hate about this World Cup. It’s the seventh World Cup I can remember and I don’t think I’ve ever been less excited about it starting. I live in the US, really have no interest in trying to go to any games given the insane price gouging and the disorganization around the stadiums and transport.
But I switched this game on and my first thought was “I really want to go and see a match in this stadium sometime in my life”. I started with no real preference as to who wins but found myself supporting Korea, just because I prefer their style of football. So I have to ask. Is football going to win out despite everything? Is the love of the game going to be enough to overcome all the negatives? For the first time, I actually believe that’s possible.”
As I said off the top, I think this is the most interesting stadium in the tournament and I would gladly shell out a few bucks to watch Chivas de Guadalajara create an atmosphere worth of the volcanic design.
Plenty of correspondence on the subject of hydration breaks, as you might expect.
“Advertisers are NEVER going to give that time back. Football is now a 4 quarter affair. Halftimes will be headed to 20 minutes soon after,” predicts Erik Liekoski.
“This isn’t so much a football match as it is a corporate event,” bemoans Doug Green.
“I’m around long enough to remember concerns in the lead-up to USA’94 that US TV companies would dictate that the games be split into 4 quarters to accommodate lucrative ad-breaks,” Paul Keane offers. “Showing remarkably uncommon backbone, FIFA said the games would be standard regulation halves of 45-minutes (yes, I’ve used the words “FIFA” and “backbone” in the one sentence). Isn’t it refreshing that FIFA is now led by a visionary humanitarian that dictates a 3-minute break for the players to take a 10-second swig of water, purely for their own welfare?”
“Telemundo didn’t run commercials during the hydration break,” Michael Jones informs me. “The Guadalajara crowd charmingly sang “Celito Lindo”.
Dylan Riley informs me there are plenty of Korean fans at the live events at Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul. It would be nice if organisers had found room for more of them at the actual stadium.
“What a lovely looking hedge that is around the field,” remarks Sean Boiling. “I first noticed it behind the goals - a better look than that car park at Stamford Bridge back in the day.”
South Korea are clearly the better of the two sides but they have nothing to show for it at the break. As the half wore on they increasingly found joy in transition as well as working the ball through Czechia’s midfield via Hwang In-beom and Paik Seung-ho to the feet of Son Heung-min.
Czechia have come to assert themselves physically but they are getting no change from a resolute Korean defence.
Half-time: South Korea 0-0 Czechia
Not the greatest half of football we will experience this World Cup.
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45+1 mins: Son should score! Korea show their technique playing the ball through the lines into the feet of their skipper. He does his thing to shape to the right, drift to the left, but instead of shooting first time he looks for the one two to his left. The return pullback is good but just a fraction too sharp and the LAFC striker can only stab-slide a toe-poke that doesn’t threaten Kovar.
45 mins: There will be three minutes of added advert time at the end of the first half.
43 mins: Korea engineer some space down the right but the cross is headed clear and Coufal does well to win the second effort in a 50-50 collision.
“I think this type of football calls for a new phrase: instead of describing the defences as being on top, it somehow feels more accurate to say that the attacks are on bottom,” emails Oliver Dungey. “No one put the attacks there, certainly not the defences. They just seemed to drift there all by themselves, presumably after passing it around pointlessly at the back for a while.”
41 mins: Korea win the first, then second ball in the air, from the free-kick. Czechia keep the pressure on though and deliver again from open play down the right but a Korean head is once more first to it. Korea’s defensive coach must be thrilled with his side’s commitment so far.
40 mins: Czechia win a high turnover of their own but in possession there is no urgency or commitment of numbers. Sojka shows great close control to earn a free-kick.
38 mins: Son should do better! Korea win the turnover on halfway through Kim Min-jae’s strength. The ball falls to Son who glides in trademark fashion unopposed from the right channel over to the left of the D then tries to pick his spot with a sidefoot curler – and misses the target. Korea are starting to boss this.
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37 mins: Son belts a shot from 25 yards out over the bar after more neat work through the lines in midfield. Korea are clearly the superior technicians and if they remain patient you can see them working more shooting opportunities like that.
35 mins: Czechia build nicely down the left and work a decent cross through Provod. There’s a solid aerial contest but Korea are first to the second ball and clear.
34 mins: Credit to Korea for standing up to Czechia’s physicality. This is a game of contrasting styles but that doesn’t mean the slighter more technical side are pushovers.
33 mins: Korea get back on the ball, drawing Czechia onto them, then working play through the lines neatly exactly as designed. Son turns cutely in the centre circle, feeds Lee Tae-seok, but he can’t honour the run in behind.
32 mins: Back to more long-ball tosh from both sides. The game was progressing until the adverts but it has lost all rhythm.
31 mins: Every so often Korea spring out of their mid-low block to spring a press and put Czechia under pressure. It has created turnovers successfully, and even when it hasn’t it’s hassled the Czechs into errors in possession.
29 mins: Czechia get some rare time on the ball but they do not look capable of picking their way through Korea’s clearly defined 5-2-3 set-up out of possession. They try to isolate Coufal on the right but he can’t pick the lock.
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27 mins: Korea slow the tempo down before Lee Kang-in steps up to inject some energy, but he’s robbed in midfield. Czechia are then denied themselves before they can hit on the break.
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25 mins: Korea resume after the commercials slightly before the host broadcaster so we only just witness Seol Young-woo being flagged for offside. While play is halted Sulc requires a new jersey as his has been torn apart like he’s been wrestling with Wolverine.
“RE: the empty seats,” emails Joe Harden. “As an Irishman in Korea this game is one I thought of taking a punt on for tickets before the Euro qualifiers, they were priced around €250 at the time. (Luckily) never went through with it but checked again last week out of interest, there were plenty for sale but were now €300+. Looks like there have been a load of no-shows from speculative fans, which are now being filled out by Mexicans as the game progresses.”
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Time for a hydration advert break. This is exactly as gross as you imagined.
21 mins: Czechia get some joy down the right now, through Coufal. His cross is blocked behind and a third corner from that side is in the offing. This one is a left-footed inswinger, after two outswingers, and it’s almost a goal! The delivery is wicked, dipping at the near post where Soucek is waiting to stab home on the volley but it’s all too fast and reflexive and he can’t angle his effort on target.
20 mins: Czechia build down the left with Zelený. Soucek then floats a teasing ball deep to the far side of the box where it’s deflected out for a corner. For the second time tonight Korea are equal to it in the air.
19 mins: A Mexican wave flutters around the stadium bowl. Never a great sign of the match the fans should be watching or their investment in it.
“A lot of adjusting going on right now to as to how the ball travels at altitude, which might account for a lack of accurate passes and long balls so far,” emails Justin Kavanagh. “One thing stood out from the earlier match at the Aztceca: The ball travels so quickly at these altitudes, so let’s hope for a few long-range, Jonny Reppesque screamers from these matches in Mexico.”
16 mins: Korea deal with their first set-piece challenge of the night and break quickly. Son is shoved over by Sulc on the counter but the free-kick is again awful, Lee Kang-in again at fault. But this match is starting to open up with Korea getting plenty of joy in transition.
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15 mins: Korea go for the short corner routine and almost execute it to perfection, working the one-two near the touchline then pulling the ball back to the penalty spot but Soucek reads it superbly. The Czechs go down the other end, Provod wins the one-on-one duel in transition and his cross is in Schick’s direction before KimMin-Jae’s intervention.
14 mins: Kovar with the first save of the night, diving away to his left to double-palm away a long range howitzer from Lee Kang-in, by some margin the game’s best player. That was a lovely hit.
13 mins: Decent set-piece delivery this time but it’s headed over at the far post with a stretching header.
12 mins: Štěpán Chaloupek lets the ball run under his foot and out for a throw in. Korea take advantage and build neatly through midfield and the lively Lee Kang-in. He picks out Lee Jae-sung in the box with a lovely vertical pass. His industry fashions a half-chance for Son who slaps a deflected effort over.
11 mins: Another awful set-piece. This time Lee fails to beat the first man.
10 mins: Corner to Korea. Again it’s the product of a long ball into the channel, this time the right, as the Tageuk Warriors try to exploit the space outside the three Czechia central defenders.
8 mins: Son, Lee Jae-sung and Lee Kang-in dovetail well between the lines to get Korea moving, then there’s a dumb free-kick conceded by Krejčí to allow the first decent set-piece opportunity of the night. Son wastes it with dreadful delivery.
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6 mins: Korea keep the ball for a full minute or so until Lee Kang-in injects some class, picking up the ball in the right back channel and sweeping a wonderful crossfield pass to set his team in motion. Lee Tae-seok gets to the byline on the left and drills a cross over but there are enough white shirts to deflect the ball clear.
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.
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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.
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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
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.
