Hwang In-beom led South Korea to their first victory at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, defeating the Czech Republic 2–1 on Thursday at Akron Stadium in Guadalajara in Group A.

Hwang scored the equalizer in the 67th minute and later provided the assist for the winning goal, finished by substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu in the 80th minute, overturning Ladislav Krejčí’s opener for the Czechs in the 59th minute.

Mexico topped the group after their 2–0 win over South Africa in the tournament opener, sitting one goal ahead of South Korea.

The victory marked South Korea’s first-ever win over the Czech Republic at a World Cup finals match, after three previous friendlies between the sides (one win each and one draw).

At Akron Stadium (capacity 44,000), where several seats appeared empty despite a noticeable presence of Mexican fans, the spotlight was on former Tottenham Hotspur star and current LAFC forward Son Heung-min. Son delivered a strong first-half performance, but it was his substitute, Oh Hyeon-gyu, who scored the decisive goal.

Son and his teammates pushed hard to open the scoring, creating more than ten chances in the first 30 minutes. The closest came from LAFC’s star forward, whose shot narrowly missed the right post (39’), followed by another attempt saved by goalkeeper Matěj Kovář (59’). Kovář also denied efforts from Hwang In-beom and Lee Jae-sung earlier in the match (49’).

Against the run of play, Krejčí stunned the Koreans with a header after a long throw-in from Vladimír Coufal (59’).

But Hwang In-beom equalized after receiving a pass from Lee Kang-in, dribbling past both the goalkeeper and defender Robin Hranáč before chipping the ball over Kovář (67’).

Son was substituted in the 69th minute, making way for Beşiktaş striker Oh Hyeon-gyu.

Tomáš Souček thought he had restored the Czech lead with a header from a set piece, but the goal was ruled out for offside (77’).

From a well-organized attacking move, Hwang delivered a precise cross from the right side to substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu, who slotted home the winner (80’).

Goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu preserved Korea’s lead with two crucial saves, denying close-range efforts from substitutes Adam Hložek (82’) and Michal Sadílek (90’).