South Korea came from behind to defeat Czech Republic 2-1 as substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu scored the winning goal in the 80th minute of their World Cup opener.

Son Heung-min and company had dominated the game against the Czechs, who did not have a shot on target until their captain Ladislav Krejci rose to head home a long throw from Vladimir Coufal for the opening goal in the 59th minute.

Former Tottenham forward Son, captaining his nation, had attempted five of South Korea’s eight efforts in the first half, but his biggest chance was blocked by keeper Matej Kovar.

But Feyenoord defensive midfielder Hwang In-beom inspired South Korea’s fightback when he equalised only eight minutes after the Czech opener.

Found inside the box by the lively Lee Kang-in, Hwang deceived Kovar, who had rushed off his line, with a fake shot before scooping the ball over the Czech goalkeeper and into an unguarded goal to make it 1-1.

South Korea thought they had been undone by another Czech set-piece in the 78th minute as Tomas Soucek nodded home a free-kick from the left, but Hong Myung-bo’s side were handed a reprieve as the goal was ruled out for offside.

And their supporters at Estadio Guadalajara were soon celebrating as their side took the lead, with Besiktas forward Oh tapping home a cross from Hwang to complete the turnaround.

But the famous win was only sealed courtesy of keeper Kim Seung-gyu who produced a brilliant low stop to deny Adam Hlozek’s close-range effort in the 82nd minute and also from Michal Sadilek in the stoppage time.

It is the first time in four editions of the World Cup that South Korea have made a winning start to their campaign.

This is South Korea’s eighth all-time win at the FIFA World Cup and the fourth by a 2-1 scoreline. They conceded the opening goal in all four of those matches.

South Korea have lost only one of their last seven opening matches at the FIFA World Cup dating back to 2002 (W4 D2), a 1-0 defeat to Sweden to in 2018.

Son Heung-Min is the second player to appear in four different FIFA World Cups for South Korea (2014-2026), joining current manager Hong Myung-Bo (1990-2002).

Czech Republic will next face South Africa on Thursday, 18 June (17:00 BST) while South Korea take on World Cup co-hosts Mexico,  on Friday, 19 June (02:00).

[BBC]

Bangladesh secured their first ODI series victory against Australia after they won the second ODI by five wickets in Dhaka, chasing down a rain-adjusted target of 192 having earlier removed the visitors’ first three wickets before they had scored a run.

Australia reached 187 for 8 in 42 overs when rain came, but had done well to reach that far becoming just the fourth team in ODI history to be 0 for 3. Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman did the early damage and finished with three wickets each. Australia hung on through fifties from Marnus Labuschagne and Xavier Bartlett who rescued them with a 103-run seventh-wicket stand.

Buoyed by his maiden half-century, Bartlett bowled an inspired first over when play resumed. A big appeal off the first ball was followed by Tanzid Hasan giving a simple return catch. Bartlett then dropped Najmul Hossain Shanto off the fifth ball, although it was a tough chance, before the umpire raised the finger to an lbw appeal on the last ball but Shanto’s review saved him with the ball missing leg stump.

The recalled Soumya Sarkar got Bangladesh going with a lofted cover drive in the third over. He repeated the dose against Nathan Ellis in the next over then Shanto took consecutive boundaries off Bartlett in the fifth over.

Three more boundaries followed in as many overs, including Soumya hoisting Ellis over square leg for a six. Shanto survived a half chance on 21 when Labuschagne dropped a tough opportunity at short midwicket. Soumya then went after Adam Zampa, climbing into a high six over long-on.

It was the part-timer Matt Renshaw who got Australia the much-needed breakthrough in the 16th over. Soumya’s reverse paddle was poorly executed and he gave Bartlett a simple catch at slip. Shanto followed soon after, caught behind off Riley Meredith, who was returning to the ODI side after five years.

Cameron Green made a further blow when he removed Litton Das with a snorter that took the glove after a brisk 21. Mosaddek Hossain, Bangladesh’s batting hero from the first game, played his shots from the start before giving Cooper Connolly a simple catch at long-off.

At 144 for 5, with a only the bowlers to come, the game was not quite closed out. However, captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz withstood a blow to the side of the head to help Towhid Hridoy in the remaining part of the chase. The game ended up finishing in a rush as Hridoy hooked Meredith for a six followed by a pulled boundary then Mehidy sealed victory with another hook that cleared the boundary.

The opening exchanges of the match were remarkable. Taskin set off one of the most extraordinary starts seen in Bangladesh when he clean bowled Matthew Short for the second consecutive innings, this time the batter leaving the ball from a good length. It meant Short had fallen for a duck three innings in a row, starting from the third ODI against Pakistan in Lahore.

Connolly followed in the next over when he fell first ball to Mustafizur. The delivery was going slightly away from the left-handed Connolly who provided the thin edge. Renshaw fell in a similar way at the end of the same over, and Australia hadn’t opened their scoring.

They were reduced to 25 for 4 in the eighth over when Mustafizur got Alex Carey to drive one uppishly at point, where Shanto took the simple catch. Mustafizur picked up three wickets in the powerplay for only the second time in his ODI career.

Captain Josh Inglis tried to salvage the situation, striking five boundaries including a beautiful square-cut six off the Nahid Rana. He timed the ball well during his 34 but left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam neutralised his threat when Inglis’ miscued inside-out shot found deep cover. Tanvir wasn’t done, removing Green with a caught-and-bowled dismissal in the 22nd over.

Australia’s resistance came in the form of a seventh-wicket stand between Labuschagne and Bartlett. Labuschagne, who had been moved down to No. 7 and should have been run out on 1, struck three fours in his unbeaten 55 off 85 balls. It was just his second ODI fifty since the 2023 World Cup final.

Bartlett, who walked in at 81 for 6, was the aggressor and struck six boundaries including two huge sixes over midwicket in his 52 off 48 balls.

Taskin broke the partnership in the 41st over, cleaning up Bartlett with an in-ducker. Next ball he bowled a big off-cutter to fox Zampa. They were important blows because it meant the DLS target was more in Bangladesh’s favour after a two-and-a-half hour delay.

Brief scores:
Bangladesh 195 for 5 (Soumya Sarkar  42, Najmul Hosain Shanto 42, Towhid Hridoy 40*; Cameron Green 1-09) beat Australia 187 for 8 in 42 overs (Marnus Labuschagne 55*, Xavier Bartlett 52; Mustafizur Rahman  3-27, Taskin Ahmed 3-33, Tanvir Islam 2-45) by five wickets [DLS method]

[Cricinfo]

The 2026 World Cup has begun in Mexico City with an opening ceremony filled with colour, dancing and a performance by global music star Shakira.

Thousands of fans arrived at the legendary Azteca stadium in Mexico City with a real sense of excitement for the first World Cup on their home turf in 40 years.

But outside the stadium, there were sporadic violent clashes as radical protesters attempted to disrupt the event and were met by a heavy security response.

For the most part, though, football took centre stage and there were wild celebrations as Mexico kicked off their campaign with a 2-0 win over South Africa.

Javier Pérez came with his family for the opener and told the BBC that the excitement now outweighs any hassles experienced up to this point.

“We were lucky to get hospitality tickets and it’s a unique experience. I have never been to a World Cup before so to bring my family is wonderful,” he said.

“I just want Mexico to get off on the right foot, win today and score a load of goals! And then we’ll see how far we can go!”

[BBC]