[Official] Korea's first World Cup opponent 'Czech Republic' confirmed, beat Denmark after penalty shootout and passed European PO

*This content was translated by AI.

The first opponent of the Korean national soccer team in the 2026 FIFA 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup has been confirmed to be the Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic defeated Denmark 3-1 in the 2026 FIFA 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup European Playoff (PO) Pass D Final at Stadion Letna in Prague at 3:45 a.m. on the 1st (Korea time) after failing to match 2-2 in regular time and overtime.

As a result, the Czech Republic filled the 'European PO Pass D winner' position in Group A of the World Cup finals, which includes South Korea, Mexico and South Africa.

South Korea, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, will face the Czech Republic in the first Group A match at Guadalajara Stadium in Mexico at 11 a.m. on June 12.

Initially, Denmark was widely expected to be Korea's first opponent in the World Cup, but the Czech Republic overturned its objective inferiority and confirmed its dramatic advance to the World Cup finals.

In fact, as of January, the Czech Republic ranked 43rd and Denmark 21st, with a wide gap, and football statistics media Football Ranking predicted that the Czech Republic's chances of advancing to the World Cup were 38%.

However, the Czech Republic, which had a home advantage, dominated the advantage by breaking the balance with Pavel Schultz's volley shot from a corner kick in the third minute of the first half.

After suffering from Denmark's wave of attacks, the Czech Republic finally lost an equalizer to Joakim Andersen (Fullum) in the 28th minute of the second half, and the game eventually went into extra time.

The Czech Republic broke the balance again in the first 10 minutes of extra time. Radislav Krejic (Wolverhampton)'s shot shook the Danish net in a mixed situation at the gate after the side cross.

But again, Denmark did not easily back down. Kasper Hogg's header equalizer came out in the 7th minute of the second half of extra time when he was on a corner kick.

In the end, the match between the two teams entered a penalty shootout with their qualification for the World Cup. The balance was broken from the first kicker. Denmark's Rasmus Hoylun (Napoli) kick hit the post, while the Czech Republic took the lead with the first kicker making it.

Denmark's fourth kicker Matthias Jensen's (Brentford) kick went wide off the post, with both teams' third kicker blocked by the goalkeeper. On the other hand, the Czech Republic ended the match when the fourth kicker made a kick.

It is the first time in 20 years that the Czech Republic has played in the World Cup finals since the 2006 World Cup in Germany. At that time, he was eliminated from the group stage with one win and two losses.

In previous records, South Korea is inferior with one win, two draws and two losses. The most recent face-off was a warm-up match in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2016, when South Korea won 2-1.

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*This content was translated by AI.