Overview from the night
South Korea celebrates, Brazil mourns the loss of the former world champion
June 12, 2026 – 6:41 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
While South Korea celebrates its first win in the first game, a Bayern player will miss his opening game at the World Cup. The most important news from the night.
Like co-hosts Mexico, South Korea got off to a perfect start in the World Cup. Superstar Heung-Min Son’s team won 2-1 (0-0) against the Czech Republic and turned a 0-1 deficit. In-beom Hwang (68th minute) and Hyeon-gyu Oh (80th) scored for the team led by the disappointing former Bundesliga professional Son. Captain Ladislav Krejci had headed the Czechs into the lead 20 years after their last World Cup participation in Germany (59th).
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These are the other most important topics of the World Cup night:
Mexico between a “historic joy” and “tension”
President Claudia Sheinbaum congratulated the Mexican national team on their 2-0 win over South Africa “with great pride” and spoke of a “historic joy”. However, there were also riots in front of the stadium. Given the high security measures, the newspaper “ESTO” described the atmosphere in the city as “unusual”: “Instead of an atmosphere like a World Cup celebration, the walk into the city center triggered a feeling of tension and desperation.”
Brazil mourns the loss of the 1970 World Cup winner
Two days before the start of the World Cup against Morocco, Brazilian football received sad news. Former defender Brito, world champion in 1970, has died at the age of 86. “Brito left us as one of the greatest defenders in the history of Brazilian football,” said Brazilian federation president Samir Xaud. “May his fighting spirit serve as an inspiration to our players participating in the World Cup.” Read more about this here.
Bayern’s Davies is missing co-host Canada at the start
Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies can only watch co-host Canada’s first game. After a thigh injury in May, the defender was not fit in time for today’s duel with Bosnia-Herzegovina (9 p.m./ARD and MagentaTV). However, the Canadian team is counting on Davies to enter the tournament later. “We really hope that we can make progress in the coming days and next week and that he can contribute soon,” said coach Jesse Marsch.
Open bonus question for the DFB selection
Shortly before the start of the World Cup on Sunday (7 p.m./ARD and MagentaTV) against Curaçao, the tournament bonuses for national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s team are still unclear. The negotiations between players and the German Football Association have not yet been completed – but an agreement is in sight. “Yeah, we’re close. So, it’s looking good,” said defender Jonathan Tah. The German world champions around captain Philipp Lahm secured the highest bonus to date in 2014 in Brazil with 300,000 euros per man. Read more about this here.