South Korea vs. Czech Republic: Head-to-head record and past meetings ahead of World Cup 2026 clash

By Jonathan O'Shea | 10 Jun 2026 14:12, Last updated: 10 Jun 2026 14:15

South Korea and the Czech Republic will play their opening World Cup 2026 fixture on Thursday night in Guadalajara.

Both are in Group A of the newly expanded 48-team tournament, with only the top two in each group guaranteed to go through.

Ahead of their latest contest, Sports Mole takes a look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two nations.

Head-to-head record

Previous meetings: 1

South Korea wins: 1

Draws: 1

Czech Republic wins: 1

South Korea and the Czech Republic have faced each other just three times in senior international football, with every meeting so far spanning coming in friendlies.

As things stand, they have recorded one win apiece and one draw, though it has been a decade since the pair last convened.

Five years after the Czech Republic dissolved its union with Slovakia, the new nation met South Korea in Seoul, where Hwang Sun-hong and Choi Yong-soo scored second-half goals to cancel out earlier strikes by Jiri Nemec and Vratislav Lokvenc.

Lokvenc was on target again three years later, as the Czechs strode to a comprehensive 5-0 home win; legendary midfielder Pavel Nedved had started the scoring, while Miroslav Baranek bagged a hat-trick after the break.

Another 15 years would pass before the two sides met again, with South Korea winning the teams' most recent encounter in June 2016.

The Taegeuk Warriors led 2-0 by half time in Prague - through goals from Yoon Bit-garam in the 27th minute and Suk Hyun-jun in the 40th - before their Czech counterparts replied via Marek Suchy shortly after the interval.