South Korea vs Czech Republic – predictions and odds – 2026 World Cup (12 June 2026)

Second match of the 2026 World Cup. South Korea face the Czech Republic just hours before the opening ceremony. The match takes place at the Akron Stadium in Guadalajara, on Matchday 1 of Group A of the 2026 World Cup, with both teams aware of how important it is to pick up points in their opening game.

I expect an evenly matched contest, with South Korea looking to exploit the space on the pitch using the quality in their squad, including Heung-Min Son (the team’s star player), and the Czech Republic capitalising on their physical strength. This match promises plenty of excitement and you can read the full preview here.

Final score prediction: South Korea to win

Although it’s a difficult match to predict, I’m going to stick my neck out and back a South Korea win, with odds of 2.65. South Korea have the better squad, made up of players with plenty of international experience who can see the match through, with special mention going to Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in and Hwang Hee-chan. Furthermore, the South Korean team usually performs well in this type of tight match; they have more pace, and that will be decisive.

The Czech Republic have their own strengths, particularly Schick, Soucek and their aerial prowess. It’s a battle between physicality and pace, which is why I favour South Korea to win this match.

Prediction: ‘Both teams to score’: Yes

Although the Over 2.5 goals would seem a viable option, I prefer to go for both teams to score, as I only need one goal from each side. The Czech Republic are very dangerous on the break and can create space from set-pieces, whilst South Korea, who prioritise speed and counter-attacks, are sure to find the net at some point in the match.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this bet is settled early and the match remains 1-1 for quite some time.

‘Accumulator’ prediction

Although I see Korea as the clear favourite, I don’t want to underestimate the Czech Republic, and if I’m going for a combination bet, I’d prefer to build it around the 1X Double Chance (Korea to win or a draw) and add ‘both teams to score’, which gives odds of 3.10.

The idea is to cover the draw, which I think is a very likely result. If Korea make the most of the spaces, they’ll end up with a good result (a draw isn’t a bad deal).