Iraq has completed preparations for Korea. As coach Jesus Casas has a history of meeting with the Korea Football Association, he seems to have already completed a thorough analysis.
South Korea and Iraq will play the fourth Group B match of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North Korea and the U.S. at Mir Stadium in Yongin at 8 p.m. on the 15th. As both teams are ranking first and second in the group with two wins, one draw and seven points, the results of the showdown are expected to have a significant impact on whether they will advance to the World Cup finals or not.
Casas highly evaluated Korea’s national strength. “Group B is not easy because Korea is a part of it,” Casas, who conducted the final training session at Mir Stadium a day before the match, said. “Korea is the best team in terms of objective strength. As such a fantastic team of good players, I think it will definitely make it to the finals of the World Cup.”
He also said Korea has become stronger than about a year ago. Earlier this year, Casas faced Korea under Jurgen Klinsmann at a final warm-up match in preparation for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup. At the warm-up match held in Saudi Arabia at the time, Korea won 1-0.
Coach Casas, who played against Klinsman and analyzed Hong Myung-bo, said, “The organization has become much better than in the Asian Cup.” “South Korea’s defense is solid and the pressure is strong. There are many talented players, but I also see them making sacrifices defensively,” he said. “This game will be played in a different way from the last warm-up match.”
Casas continued to enhance Korea’s capabilities. Casas showed humble behaviors to the extent that he called the match against Korea a stage of challenge, but he also cannot ignore Iraq’s rise. Since Casas took the helm of Iraq in 2022, his achievements have been considerable. He won the Gulf Cup last year, and advanced to the round of 16 teams by beating Japan in the group stage at the Qatar Asian Cup.
At the second qualifying round for the World Cup, Iraq beat Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia in all six matches. The team has been undefeated in three consecutive matches in the third qualifying round, and has not lost a single goal.
Thanks to his leadership, Casas almost took the helm of the Korean national team. The KFA has shown interest in Casas in the process of finding a replacement for Clinsman. The KFA had an interview with Casas as the second priority after Jesse Marsch, the current coach of the Canadian national team. 메이저사이트
“It was right to have conversations with the KFA about the style of the national team and the players. It was a good interview, but it was not easy for him to sign a contract,” Kasas said. “Negotiations with the KFA were a good test for me though. I understand that the coach (Hong Myung-bo) was also appointed after a good process.”
Attention is focusing on the upcoming match due to Casas’ relationship with Korean soccer. Coach Hong Myung-bo, who will take the helm of the Korean national team in September and is aiming at his third straight A-match winning streak, also expressed confidence in his team’s victory against Iraq. “I have gained confidence in my team,” Hong said after defeating Jordan, who had lost in the semifinals of the Asian Cup, in an away match.
Hong Myung-bo, who will continue his momentum in the match against Jordan, said, “It will be important at what point we score. We displayed good movement when we had the ball against Jordan and when we did not have the ball. Iraq is another opponent, and we are preparing to deal with it in a different way when it is not good,” adding, “We are conducting systematic attack training as we have been doing steadily. We will concentrate and prepare how we will score when we reach the final third stage.”