One of the main reasons behind the construction of La Casa de los Mexicanos came to life on Thursday night. The FIFA World Cup 2026 match between Korea Republic and Czechia marked the final milestone for Estadio Guadalajara, further cementing its status as one of the world’s premier sporting venues.
The home that Jorge Vergara (R.I.P.) envisioned for Chivas fully met international expectations and shined on the historic occasion that brought football’s greatest tournament to the Pearl of the West for the third time.
From early in the day, the area surrounding the final mile leading to Estadio Guadalajara was flooded with Korean supporters. That presence became even more evident at kickoff, as fans from the Asian nation packed the stadium’s north stand.
Although the dominant color throughout the venue was Mexico’s green, thanks to thousands of local fans who attended to enjoy the first of the four World Cup matches set to be played in our city, many of them joined the Korean supporters in backing the Taegeuk Warriors throughout the match.
The Czech supporters, less organized in the stands, attempted to make their voices heard, but they were quickly overwhelmed by the sea of red every time they tried. That changed in the 59th minute, when their team found the breakthrough and sparked the first-ever World Cup goal celebration inside the Red-and-White Fortress.
After a stronger start to the second half, the Europeans took control of the match and opened the scoring from a corner kick. Ladislav Krejci rose above the defense and powered an unstoppable header into the back of the net.
However, Czechia’s lead lasted only eight minutes. The Red Devils leveled the score through a stunning strike from Hwang In-beom, who beat both a defender and the goalkeeper with a brilliant move inside the box before calmly slotting home and reigniting the red wave in the stands.
With ten minutes remaining, Korea Republic completed the comeback. In-beom reached the end line and delivered a driven cross that found Oh Hyeon-gyu, who slipped behind the defense and tapped the ball into the net, sending the thousands of Korean supporters inside Estadio Guadalajara into celebration.
FIFA World Cup 2026
Korea Republic 2-1 Czechia
(Hwang In-beom 67’, Oh Hyeon-gyu 80’)
(Ladislav Krejci 59’)
Referee: Amin Mohamed Omar
Estadio Guadalajara
Attendance: 44,985
