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South Korea's man of the match Oh Hyun-gyu said he played despite illness in the World Cup opener, where he scored the decisive goal in a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic. Hong Myeong-bo's side put in an excellent display in Japan in their first Group A match, although they had to come from behind to win. A superb header from Ladislav Krejci put the Czech Republic ahead just before the hour mark, but Hwang In-beom's excellent turn and finish brought South Korea level on eight minutes. Oh came off the bench to score from Hwang's right-side center with ten minutes remaining, giving South Korea three points ahead of Mexico, who they face in the second leg next Thursday. Oh is the eighth South Korean player to score on his World Cup debut and the fifth player to do so off the bench. But Oh almost didn't play, he told reporters, "To be honest, I wasn't feeling well. My fever was up to 38 degrees Celsius, which made me wonder if I could play or not. Just being in the World Cup is a great feeling. My coach gave me the opportunity, and I'm grateful that I was able to score goals and help the team win. As a striker, that's the biggest wish." South Korea dominated possession, keeping 61.5% possession and scoring 2.3 Expected Goals (xG), compared to 0.81 for the Czech Republic. The build-up to 25 passes during Hwang's equalizer was tied for the fifth-longest passing sequence in a World Cup goal since 1966. But they also relied on goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu, who stopped Adam Hlojek with a superb goal-line block in the 82nd minute and denied Michal Sadilek in added time. "We were controlling the game, but if we had conceded the first goal, the onus would have been on the defenders and the goalkeeper. I'm happy that we were able to turn the game around and my save helped the team, albeit in a small way," Kim said. Thursday's victory was South Korea's eighth overall at the World Cup, four of which have come from behind in 2-1 scorelines. The Czech Republic may now need a result against South Africa on Thursday to reach the knockout rounds. Krejci's goal was the second by a Wolves player at the 2026 World Cup, after the recently returned Raúl Jiménez, and seven of the Czech Republic's last 14 World Cup goals have been headers (as Czechoslovakia). But the captain expressed frustration at their defensive problems, saying, "I'm angry at the situations we couldn't deal with. Yes, we're getting used to new tactics, and there might be some nervousness in the first match of the World Cup, but we have to have compactness, we have to stay together on the field. We conceded two goals in a similar manner. We knew how important it was to keep the lead, but we couldn't do it. Disappointment is the main feeling, but this is just the beginning, the tournament will be long. Now we can be angry, but we have to prepare for the next match from tomorrow, because we know how important it will be."