Team Korea led by Coach Hong Myung-bo, which got off to a shaky start by tying with underdog Palestinians, took control of Oman and put out an urgent fire. However, the team faces a tougher turning point in October. It will hold two consecutive matches with Jordan and Iraq, which will serve as a watershed for its advance to the World Cup finals for the 11th consecutive time.
The national soccer team, which started anew under coach Hong Myung-bo, ranked second in Group B with one win and one draw (4, 3 goals) in the early stages of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA World Cup between North Korea and China.
Jordan (four goals) with the same number of points took the middle lead before scoring multiple points, while Iraq (four goals with one point) was right behind Korea. Kuwait (2 points), Palestine (1 point) and Oman (0 point) followed.
The final qualifying round has never been rested, but it’s not a satisfactory start.
They called Palestine, whose land has turned into a battleground due to war with Israel, to the Seoul World Cup Stadium and played a poor match to draw 0-0. They failed to take advantage of numerous scoring opportunities in the match, which they expected to win a big victory, and faced several dangerous loss-making crises. The draw was also solid.
In the ensuing away match against Oman, he won 3-1 but there were several dizzying moments. He changed his tactics in a 1-1 match, and only in the 37th minute of the second half, Son Heung-min’s wonder goal, helped by Lee Kang-in, was able to change the flow.
Still, after the match against Oman, Hong said, “It’s not a bad result from a starting point. The income is that his performance is getting better.”
There are also improvements such as maintaining player spacing, creating a central numerical advantage, and diversifying offensive tactics, but it is Hong Myung-bo’s big homework that the team is still less complete.
“We still have some time to adjust,” commentator Kim Dae-gil said. “First of all, we need to speed up our team even more than we do now. We also need to change our team’s speed even though our team’s tactics are not very complete. We should be able to gradually show what kind of soccer coach Hong Myung-bo is pursuing.”
Hong’s next opponents are Jordan and Iraq. South Korea will play an away match against Jordan on October 10 and then a home match against Iraq on October 15.
In the third qualifying round of this year’s event, which is effectively the concept of the final qualifying round, the winner of six of the 8.5 teams that are at stake in Asia will be determined. Only when they rank second in each group will they be able to advance to the World Cup finals, and the two consecutive games in October will likely be the biggest challenge.
If South Korea catches both Jordan and Iraq, which will compete for first and second place in the group, it will be able to take the lead alone and win, but if it catches the lead, the road to the World Cup finals will be very difficult.
The FIFA rankings of Iraq and Jordan are ranked 55th and 68th, respectively, lower than Korea (23rd), but they have a formidable record.
Jordan met South Korea twice to secure one win and one draw at the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, which took place earlier this year. Notably, the team failed to yield a single shot on goal in the semifinals of the tournament, and won 2-0 to snatch South Korea’s dream of winning the title for the first time in 64 years.
It is unclear whether striker Moussa Altamari, who injured his ankle seriously, will play in the match against Korea, but Jordan is full of menacing strikers including Yazan Al-Naimat, who scored two goals in the match against Palestine. He also showed off strong attack strength in two matches of the third qualifying round, drawing attention.
Iraq was also a tough opponent, showing off its solid performance by beating Japan 2-1 at the Asian Cup. It also had an outstanding striker named Aymen Hussein, who scored six goals in four Asian Cup matches.
In the second match against Kuwait in the third preliminary round, Iraq was placed on a numerical inferiority team as defender Levine Sulaka was sent off just seven minutes after the start of the match, and the match was tied 0-0. There was only one less player, but Iraq won the match by a landslide. 메이저놀이터
In particular, Iraq has made several threatening set-piece attacks due to its strength in the right to provide, and South Korea, whose set-piece defense is unstable, needs to be prepared.
Team Hong Myung-bo is also making full preparations early on, judging that the two consecutive matches against Jordan and Iraq will be a watershed. The team has started analyzing its opponent’s strength and has begun reviewing its squad management, which has been criticized for.
“If we are to win the league title (ranking first in the group league), we must never give points to our strong rivals. We must manage points well against Jordan and Iraq (to advance to the World Cup finals). We will prepare for two consecutive A matches in October with a focus on this,” Hong said, vowing to win the title.