JTBC

Tears turned to smiles.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America now underway, there was explosive interest in the first group-stage match for Korea.

Streamed live via Naver Chijijik at 11 a.m. on Friday the 12th, the JTBC live broadcast of the first group-stage match for Korea recorded 3,864,785 concurrent connections, far outpacing the KBS live broadcast.

‘national-team play-by-play’ Bae Sung-jae and ‘legend’ Park Ji-sung, ‘smart analysis’ Kim Hwan teamed up on the call, and online communities and social media were flooded with positive reactions to the JTBC broadcast. Viewers responded with “The commentary by Bae Sung-jae and Park Ji-sung is certainly reliable”, “The match felt even more immersive”, expressing satisfaction with the JTBC broadcast.

In the match, Hwang In-beom scored the equalizer in the 22nd minute of the second half, and Oh Hyeon-gyu netted the go-ahead goal in the 35th minute of the second half, as Korea defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 for a thrilling come-from-behind victory.

The second group-stage match between Korea and Mexico will be broadcast live locally on Friday the 19th at 8:50 a.m. (kickoff 10:00). The Mexico match will also be broadcast live on JTBC and Naver Chijijik.