The Korea men's national soccer team led by Hong Myung-bo decided to skip the on-field grass acclimation schedule ahead of its first match of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup against Czechia. The decision was based on the judgment that separate acclimation time is unnecessary because the grass conditions at the training ground and the stadium are the same.
The national team coached by Hong Myung-bo said on the 10th (Korea time) that it would not carry out the grass acclimation session that had been scheduled for the afternoon the next day at Estadio Guadalajara in Mexico. It judged that no separate acclimation training was needed because the grass at the current training ground and the stadium is identical.
Korea will play Czechia in the first Group A match of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup group stage at 11 a.m. on the 12th at Estadio Guadalajara in Mexico. The Czechia match is Hong Myung-bo's first game of the tournament.
In A matches, both teams usually hold an official press conference and official training at the stadium the day before the game. The procedure is intended to let players check the actual stadium grass and ground conditions in advance. However, at this tournament, official training is conducted at each team's training center. The day before the game, instead of training in cleats at the stadium, teams are given time only to walk the ground in sneakers and step on the grass.
The national team judged that skipping this procedure would not cause any problems in adapting to the stadium environment. Estadio Guadalajara, which hosts Korea's first and second group matches, is the home stadium of Mexican powerhouse CD Guadalajara. Chivas Valle Verde, the national team's base camp training ground, is also CD Guadalajara's training ground. The two facilities use the same type of grass and are managed by the same entity. The national team has been training at Chivas Valle Verde since the 6th.
Projection figures indicated Korea holds an edge over Czechia. Opta, a soccer statistics firm, said its supercomputer model gave Korea a 42.9% chance to win against Czechia. It put Czechia's win probability at 31.1% and a draw at 26.0%. Korea is ranked 25th by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), higher than Czechia (40th).
Korea's all-time record against Czechia stands at 1 win, 2 draws and 2 losses. Their last meeting was a friendly in June 2016, which Korea won 2-1.