12 June, 04:00 CEST

Estadio Akron

World Rankings (May 2026)

• South Korea - 25th

• Czechia - 41st

Head to Head

• Three matches played historically (W1, D1, L1)

• They have never met in a tournament, with all games being international friendlies

• First played in 1998 (2-2 draw in Korea), a 5-0 win for Czechia in 2001

• The most recent game was a 2-1 win for South Korea in 2016

It's about to get tense.

With Mexico tipped (but not guaranteed - see our Group and Team previews) to win the group, there’s a lot riding on who ends up the “best of the rest” in Group A. We believe Group A has the potential to be one of the most unpredictable in the tournament.

But, predictions are kind of our thing, so let's get our cheeks off that fence and give some thoughts on what might happen in one of the crunch games in the group.

As the two next-highest ranking sides in the group, South Korea and Czechia will no doubt both have designs on second spot. Getting a result in this head to head is imperative. Both sides could do with a win, but neither will want to lose.

So how might this one play out tactically? 

The tactics 

South Korea will come into the tournament with their usual 3-4-3 / 3-4-2-1 formations ready to go. They play a high-energy pressing game, built on a solid defence and they look to quick transitions to make the most of their individual quality (Son Heung-Min being an excellent example). 

Czechia are also a robust team, built on physical prowess, resilience, solidity and a compact shape. I wouldn’t put money on or against them. They have the ability to disrupt games and fight to the bitter end, but also show signs of weakness (such as conceding two early goals to Republic of Ireland in the playoff game Czechia went on to win on penalties). 

South Korea's setup

South Korea's three at the back has shown signs of fragility, and questions have started to be asked ahead of the tournament about how resilient they really are when breaking on the transition, and being hit back on the counter.

South Korea's entire style hinges on being able to win the ball and make lightning-fast use of it to enable their better players. Given the more "attritional" style of Czechia, they could present a rather large spanner in the works. So we're going to learn a lot about how South Korea can handle that.

Czechia's setup

Czechia will play a very determined style of football and look to absolutely make the most of set pieces, long throws and corners. They'll have done their homework on South Korea and know that they are there to be got at, especially if they see signs of disarray at the back.

Krejčí, Souček and Schick all have the potential to cause damage at set pieces, and if things go well for Czechia you could see them getting results against teams ranked higher than them.

Potential entertainment rating:

Low to medium, depending on who gets the first goal and when. Neither side will want to lose, so this could end up see-sawing with an early goal and becoming a surprise early entertainer with Czechia's never-say-die attitude kicking in.

IIt’ll either be deeply entertaining or boring, with both sides desperately hoping for a win but unlikely to risk a loss. Expect the way the game starts to determine the pattern of play in this one. 

We think it'll probably settle into a pragmatic pattern of play, though. Both sides have what it takes to win, but both will be satisfied with a draw, and that's why it'll likely end exactly that way.

Our prediction 

With neither side willing to risk a defeat, this could be a tense display of pragmatism decided by an individual moment. South Korea could edge it, but don’t underestimate the resilience of Czechia in these situations.

Predicted result: South Korea 1 - 1 Czechia (Goals: Son, Krejčí)