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Korea Republic v Czechia team news: Son starts

12 June 2026 37 comments
TopMarx TopMarx
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Looking to follow co-hosts Mexico in getting their FIFA 2026 World Cup campaign off to a winning start are Korea Republic and Czechia.

The first of several matches in this tournament for the night owls and dead zone denizens with kick-off at yawn-tastic 03:00 BST.

TEAM NEWS

One of FPL’s greatest-ever players, Son Heung-min ($7.4m) makes his 11th World Cup appearance for Korea Republic. Renowned in FPL for his xG-busting ability, the former Spurs talisman bagged a team-leading 10 goals in qualification as well as supplying four assists.

At the back, Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae ($5.0m) carries the hopes of nearly 50,000 managers. He’ll be looking to add to his four clean sheets in his last six international outings.

Meanwhile Wolves forward Hwang Hee-Chan ($6.1m), found in only 0.1 per cent of Fantasy squads and looking to earn his 80th cap for his country, starts on the bench.

Club team-mate Ladislav Krejci ($4.4m) lines up for the opposition while another name familiar to FPL managers, Tomas Soucek ($5.6m), joins him in midfield.

Most of the Fantasy attention will be on former West Ham United full-back Vladimir Coufal, however, who at $3.6m is among the cheapest starting defenders in the game.

LINE-UPS

Korea Republic XI: Kim Seung-Gyu, Lee Han-Beom, Kim Min-Jae, Lee Gi-Hyuk, Seol Young-Woo, Hwang In-Beom, Paik Seung-Ho, Lee Tae-Seok, Lee Kang-In, Lee Jae-Sung, Son Heung-Min.

Subs: Bae Jun-Ho, J. Castrop, Cho Wi-Je, Cho Gue-Sung, Eom Ji-Sung, Hwang Hee-Chan, Jo Hyeon-Woo, Kim Jin-Gyu, Kim Moon-Hwan, Kim Tae-Hyeon, Lee Dong-Gyeong, Oh Hyeon-Gyu, Park Jin-Seob, Song Bum-Keun, Yang Hyun-Jun

Czechia XI: Kovár, Chaloupek, Hranác, Krejcí, Coufal, Soucek, Sojka, Zeleny, Sulc, Provod, Schick.

Subs: Chorý, Chytil, Darida, Douděra, Hložek, Holeš, Horníček, Jurásek, Kuchta, Sadílek, Sochůrek, Staněk, Višinský, Zima, Červ

Fantasy FIFA World Cup 2026: Get involved with our coverage!

READ MORE OF OUR FANTASY FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 CONTENT

GROUP A: Mexico | South Africa | Korea Republic | Czechia
GROUP B: Canada | Bosnia & Herzegovina | Qatar | Switzerland
GROUP C: Brazil | Morocco | Haiti | Scotland
GROUP D: USA | Paraguay | Australia | Turkiye
GROUP E: Germany | Curacao | Cote d’Ivoire | Ecuador
GROUP F: Netherlands | Japan | Sweden | Tunisia
GROUP G: Belgium | Egypt | Iran | New Zealand
GROUP H: Spain | Cabo Verde | Saudi Arabia | Uruguay
GROUP I: France | Senegal | Iraq | Norway
GROUP J: Argentina | Algeria | Austria | Jordan
GROUP K: Portugal | DR Congo | Uzbekistan | Colombia
GROUP L: England | Croatia | Ghana | Panama

Round 1 Scout Picks | Round 1 best captains | Round 1 best differentials: | Sleep-friendly XV | Players to avoid | Team reveals | Best players by position + price

Predicted line-ups | Penalty + corner takers | Direct free-kick takers

How to play World Cup 2026 Fantasy | What is ‘Scouting Bonus’? | How to order your starters + subs | Can you captain, transfer or sub 12th Man? | 150 of the best, worst and funniest team names

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TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

37 Comments Login to Post a Comment
  1. FOREST FOREVER 2
    • 1 Year
    4 hours, 43 mins ago

    It's all Korea at the moment.

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  2. Dragon Arcana
    • 14 Years
    4 hours, 39 mins ago

    Any fellow brits awake watching this?

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    1. TopMarx
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 13 Years
      3 hours, 30 mins ago

      A brit but in Colombia!

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    2. Mozumbus
      • 4 Years
      3 hours, 8 mins ago

      Not a brit but watching yes from Pakistan, 8 am here

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  3. FOREST FOREVER 2
    • 1 Year
    4 hours, 31 mins ago

    Very quick jersey chang for Czech No. 15.
    Bit like tyre change in F1.

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  4. FOREST FOREVER 2
    • 1 Year
    4 hours, 27 mins ago

    Coufal the most active Czech player.

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    1. bso
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      2 hours, 19 mins ago

      Almost got him Happy I switched to Ordonez!

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  5. FOREST FOREVER 2
    • 1 Year
    4 hours, 18 mins ago

    Great chance for Son.
    Owners unlucky.

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  6. Drop Dead Tsimikas
    • 14 Years
    4 hours, 15 mins ago

    Coufal looks great value for 3.6M. Regretting dropping him.

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    1. SpaceCadet
      • 12 Years
      3 hours, 58 mins ago

      True, need Korea to score to bust the cs

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      1. Mozumbus
        • 4 Years
        2 hours, 33 mins ago

        Got him
        Your curse came true lol otherwise I'd have been over the moon (see the post right below)

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        1. SpaceCadet
          • 12 Years
          1 hour, 32 mins ago

          Tough luck, was looking like a mega haul for a while.

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          1. Mozumbus
            • 4 Years
            1 min ago

            Yes, it'd have been a massive start for me
            Still in good shape when 3,665 rank, most probably I'll keep captain badge on jimenez
            Partly watched both games
            Conditions look tough for European teams

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  7. Mozumbus
    • 4 Years
    3 hours, 46 mins ago

    Last minute Jimenez selection worked well
    Rangel gained ownership >5% mainly due to the squad visibility before the deadline
    Coufal is here as well, a cleanie plus goal/assist will be highly welcome!

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  8. lilmessipran
    • 13 Years
    3 hours, 42 mins ago

    Where is the clinical Xg overperforming Son we knew about?

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  9. Thanos
    • 4 Years
    3 hours, 39 mins ago

    Who got the assist?

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    1. lilmessipran
      • 13 Years
      2 hours, 52 mins ago

      Some 3.6m defender taking corner kicks

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    2. SpaceCadet
      • 12 Years
      2 hours, 39 mins ago

      Coufal

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  10. lilmessipran
    • 13 Years
    3 hours, 39 mins ago

    Krejci knack for scoring goals for a defender.

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  11. lilmessipran
    • 13 Years
    3 hours, 36 mins ago

    All the Wolves players scoring in the WC so he throws on Hee Chan, very clever

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  12. FOREST FOREVER 2
    • 1 Year
    3 hours, 29 mins ago

    Both CS busted. I like it.

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    1. SpaceCadet
      • 12 Years
      2 hours, 39 mins ago

      Relief

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  13. SpaceCadet
    • 12 Years
    3 hours, 24 mins ago

    Schick and Son owners mudded.

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  14. Freshy
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    2 hours, 57 mins ago

    Coufal has a top shelf long throw

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  15. Coupes
    • 7 Years
    1 hour, 57 mins ago

    Quick question about live subs: if I have Sabister in my current starting lineup, but replace him with Raphinia on my bench, can I bring Sabister back in later?

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    1. Holmes
      • 12 Years
      1 hour, 2 mins ago

      yes, as long as he has not played

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  16. Holmes
    • 12 Years
    1 hour, 33 mins ago

    Hopefully no injuries. Sane and Haaland to Olise and Mbappe is as easy as it gets.

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    1. SpaceCadet
      • 12 Years
      49 mins ago

      Already have Olise and raphina. thinking haaland wirtz > mbappe kdb/doku.

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      1. Holmes
        • 12 Years
        44 mins ago

        Changed Olise to Yamal last minute

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        1. SpaceCadet
          • 12 Years
          40 mins ago

          Will Yamal even play the first match?

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          1. Holmes
            • 12 Years
            36 mins ago

            Dont know, he was back in training yesterday. Maybe a sub appearance and than a start against Saudi? Will take that. Trying to fit him in MD2 plan was more difficult.

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            1. Mother Farke
              • 2 Years
              17 mins ago

              I can't see Yamal being risked until the Uruguay game. They've got enough as a squad to navigate Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia to not take the risk. In fact, I can see rotation v Saudi. Grimaldo starting over Cucurella, for example.

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              1. Holmes
                • 12 Years
                13 mins ago

                lets see, not that I need him for captaincy. Can change him to Olise and keep Sane if there is a chance of him not starting. I think they will field their strongest side in all games to avoid any possibility of facing Argentina in R32.

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                1. Mother Farke
                  • 2 Years
                  2 mins ago

                  Uruguay will likely win their first two games, too, which will mean Spain will need their best XI for MD3. Why risk your better players when you've got the depth to rotate? We'll see.

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  17. Holmes
    • 12 Years
    1 hour, 2 mins ago

    Australia vs Turkey will be the first game which can be watched live. Germany vs Curacao and Spain vs Cabo Verde will be next 2 followed by Portugal vs DR Congo. Guess it was worth playing fantasy afterall.

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  18. DrCongo
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    6 mins ago

    I can't find reference to when the live match day deadlines are for substitutions and changing captain etc. Has anyone have any idea where I would find them / what they are?

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  19. keefy59
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    5 mins ago

    Anyone on Max Captain in this round
    Not taking the "advice" of YouTube content creators to play it in the final ?
    I'm already on 14 points with Rangel & with all the big hitting premiums to follow .
    Plus no stress as to should I stick or twist with my captain points so far .

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