From the 2026 FIFA North-China U.S. World Cup, the number of participating countries has increased from 32 to 48, and the number of qualifiers distributed to Asia has also increased significantly from 4.5 to 8.5.
The 18 countries that advanced to the third qualifying round will be divided into three groups of six teams each. If a player ranks top two in the group, he or she will automatically advance to the finals. If he or she ranks third or fourth in the group, he or she will be divided into two groups in the fourth qualifying round and play in a “loser to save” format. If he or she ranks first in each group in the fourth qualifying round, he or she will also be able to advance to the World Cup finals. Even if he or she ranks second in the group, he or she will be able to have 0.5 playoff tickets per continent if the team wins the playoff. From the third Asian qualifying round, he or she will be given up to three chances to advance to the World Cup finals.
Therefore, the third Asian qualifying round for the North Korea-China-U.S. World Cup, which is somewhat spacious but inevitably fierce, is about to turn around. Here is a look at the mid-term performance of the South Korean national soccer team led by head coach Hong Myung-bo and Indonesia, Japan, China and North Korea led by head coach Shin Tae-yong.
▶’Successful Fire Control Without SON’ Hong Myung-bo-ho laughed while crying
Korea started the third qualifying round under Hong Myung-bo, who led the team to a first-round match in Group B. Though the team was considered the strongest team by an overwhelming margin in Group B, it was a huge shock to see the team draw 0-0 at the first match against Palestine held as an A match home game in September. Korea, ranking 23rd in FIFA, failed to target the “asphyxiation defense” performed by the 96th-ranked Palestine, but rather ended up losing a point through counterattack, resulting in a close draw. However, in the second match, Son Heung-min’s one goal and two assists in an away match against Oman enabled the team to extinguish the fire urgently, but it was not enough to alleviate the anxiety.
On top of that, Son is also facing an injury. Son sat down due to an injury in the match on April 27. He was not even called up to the Korean national team.
It was a bolt out of the blue for Hong. The team had to have an away match against Jordan, which lost 0-2 in the semi-finals of the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup, and had to play its fourth match at home against Iraq, ranked 55th, which boasts the second highest FIFA ranking after Korea in Group B. It had to face the two most difficult teams in the group, but it lost its ace to injury. In addition, the situation surrounding the national team turned sour, with the Korea Football Association, which caused controversy during Hong’s appointment process, receiving public criticism for asking questions on pending issues from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
As Hwang Hee-chan and Um Ji-sung were also injured during the third game against Jordan on the 10th, it seemed like a dark cloud was falling on Hong Myung-bo. However, the national team rather beat Jordan 2-0 and won the home game against Iraq 3-2 at home on the 15th, ranking first in Group B with three wins and one draw (10 points). Thanks to three consecutive wins, the team was able to enter stability.
Hong will meet Kuwait, Palestine, and Oman, the lowest-ranking trio in Group B, in succession in the third qualifying match starting in November. Having secured Jordan and Iraq, the team can now seek to secure an early berth to the World Cup finals.
▶”Shin Tae-yong Magic” won’t work anymore
Indonesia, led by head coach Shin Tae-yong, had a miracle of advancing to the third qualifying round only in Southeast Asia. Even in the first two games, they drew with “strong teams” Australia and Saudi Arabia, raising expectations for their advance to the World Cup finals. In an away match in Bahrain on the 11th, they lost a point in extra time in the second half and drew through, but the World Cup finals did not seem to be a dream because Indonesia showed better performance than expected in each game. 안전놀이터
However, Indonesia lost two runs first in the fourth away match against China on May 15, and then failed to catch up, quickly reducing its chances of advancing to the North-China World Cup. The team ended up in fifth place, which is a three-point tie with bottom-ranked China. Even more shocking was that China was the lowest in three consecutive losses.
▶ Japan with nothing to fear, China and North Korea on the bottom
The situations of Japan and China are quite the opposite. Japan staged an overwhelming winning streak. It defeated China 7-0 and Bahrain 5-0 before securing a 2-0 win in an away match against Saudi Arabia, the strongest team in Group C. It continued its remarkable record of 14 points-no goals-three consecutive wins-No. 1 in the group.
Although Japan tied Australia for the first time in the fourth game, it is still ranked first among 18 countries in the third qualifying round in Asia. Japan is showing a very overwhelming performance in that the first goal it allowed was its own goal.