Korean opponents win final friendlies before World Cup
Czechia forward Patrik Schick, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against Guatemala during the teams' friendly football match at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, Thursday, in this Imagn Images photo. Reuters-Yonhap
Two of Korea's opponents in the group stage at the FIFA World Cup have both won their final tuneup matches.
Czechia, whom Korea will face to begin Group A action next week, defeated Guatemala 3-1 at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, on Thursday (local time).
Patrik Schick, Tomas Chory and Denis Visinsky were the goal scorers for Czechia, who sit 16 spots below Korea in the FIFA rankings at No. 41.
Czechia had earlier beat Kosovo 2-1 on Sunday.
Schick scored off a counter break for Czechia in the 11th minute. William Fajardo netted the equalizer for Guatemala in the 40th minute, but then Chory's header in the 72nd minute put the Czechs ahead for good. Visinsky's 79th-minute marker rounded out the scoring.
Korea also won their final two friendlies before the World Cup, beating Trinidad and Tobago 5-0 and then El Salvador 1-0.
Their match against Czechia will kick off at 8 p.m. next Thursday (local time) at Estadio Guadalajara in Guadalajara, Mexico, or 11 a.m. next Friday (Korean time).
Mexico's Julian Quinones, Alvaro Fidalgo and Raul Jimenez celebrate their second goal at the Estadio Nemesio Diez in Toluca, Mexico , Thursday. Reuters-Yonhap
Also on Thursday, Mexico, one of the tournament's three co-host countries and the top-ranked team in Group A at No. 15, defeated Serbia 5-1 at Estadio Nemesio Diez Riega in Toluca, Mexico.
Following a 1-0 win over Australia on Saturday, Mexico netted three times and got two own goals from Serbia.
Petar Stanic had the match's first goal for Serbia, but Mexico drew level on Johan Vasquez's goal in the 34th minute.
Stefan Bukinac's own goal during stoppage time in the first half gave Mexico a 2-1 lead. Raul Jimenez slotted home a rebound after Julian Quinones struck the right post in the 57th minute for a 3-1 advantage, and then another Serbian own goal, this time by Adem Avdic in the 72nd minute, made it a 4-1 match.
Luis Chavez made it a 5-1 contest with the clocking winding down.
Korea and Mexico will square off at 7 p.m. June 18 (local time), or 10 a.m. June 19 (Korean time), at Estadio Guadalajara.
South Africa, the one other team in Group A, had a goalless draw against Nicaragua last Friday in their final friendly before the World Cup.
Korea and South Africa will meet at 7 p.m. June 24 (local time), or 10 a.m. on June 25 (Korean time) at Estadio Monterrey in Monterrey.