South Korea skip pitch walk-through ahead of Czech Republic opener

South Korea's national football team has opted out of a pitch familiarization session ahead of their opening 2026 World Cup match against the Czech Republic.

The squad, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, announced Wednesday it would skip the session scheduled for Thursday afternoon at Guadalajara Stadium in Mexico.

At previous tournaments and standard international matches, both teams typically hold a press conference and official training session at the match venue the day before kickoff. At this World Cup, official training sessions are being held at each team's designated training ground, with a separate slot for players to walk the pitch and get a feel for the surface.

South Korea decided to forgo that walk-through for their first group-stage match. "We decided not to attend the pitch familiarization session because the grass at our training ground and the stadium are the same," a team official said.

Guadalajara Stadium will host South Korea's first two group-stage matches and serves as the home ground of Mexican league club CD Guadalajara. The national team's training base is also the CD Guadalajara training facility. The two pitches share not only the same grass variety but also the same groundskeeping staff, making conditions virtually identical.

South Korea face the Czech Republic at Guadalajara Stadium at 11 a.m. on Friday.