“Captain” Son Heung-min (Tottenham) returned, and Hong Myung-bo’s national soccer team aims to bomb a goal against Kuwait, ranked 135th in the FIFA rankings tomorrow.
The South Korean national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, will play Kuwait in Group B of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup at Jabeur Al Ahmed International Stadium in Kuwait City, the capital of Kuwait, at 11 p.m. on the 14th.
On the 19th, they will move to Amman, Jordan, and play the 6th away game against the Palestinians.
South Korea, which has been undefeated (3 wins, 1 draw, 10 points) in the previous four qualifiers, is at the top of Group B.
In the third qualifying round for the North Korea-China World Cup, the first and second places in each group will go straight to the finals.
Hong Myung-bo, who got off to a shaky start with a 0-0 draw with the Palestinians in the first round, won consecutive away matches against Oman (3-1), Jordan (2-0), and Iraq (3-2).
In Group B, Jordan (goal difference +4), Iraq (goal difference +1 or more, 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, 7 points), Oman (1 win, 3 goal difference –3), Kuwait (three draws, 1 loss, goal difference – 4 or more points), and Palestine (two draws and two losses, 2 points) ranked second to sixth in that order.
If Hong Myung-bo wins all two consecutive games in the Middle East, it will cross the seventh ridge of securing tickets to the World Cup finals.
The atmosphere of the national team is very good ahead of the match against Kuwait.
South Korean soccer star Son Heung-min, who suffered a hamstring (muscle behind his thigh) injury in the third and fourth rounds of the third qualifying round in October, returned.
Son Heung-min, who became the first Asian player to become the top scorer in the English professional football Premier League (EPL), returns like a thousand troops.
Son Heung-min, who left the ground for a while due to a recurrence of injury after returning once, recently started three consecutive official games for his team Tottenham and finished preheating.
In particular, he played full-time in the EPL regular league match against Ipswich Town (1-2 loss) for the first time in a long time.
In addition to Son Heung-min, European players are also at their best.
Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) flew with two goals and one assist in the 11th round of the French League 1 in the 2024-2025 season against Angé on the 10th.
Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) took the lead in the 3-1 victory with his team’s first goal in the 10th round home game between Dortmund and the German Bundesliga.
Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord), a key midfielder of the national team, scored with a header in the first three minutes of the Dutch Eredivisie 12th round away match against Almer to help the team win 4-1.
Hong Myung-bo’s “young blood” Bae Joon-ho (Stoke City) made an assist in the 15th round against Millwall in the English Championship (second division).
Kuwait, the opponent team, 먹튀검증 is ranked 135th in the FIFA rankings, which is considered one lower than Korea.
Korea is leading the team in past matches with 12 wins, four draws and eight losses. In the most recent eight matches, Korea has seven wins and one draw (including one confiscation win) without loss.
It is also positive for South Korea that Kuwait’s defense is unstable, with three goals and seven goals conceded in the fourth round of the third qualifying round.
Among the players to watch out for is 34-year-old veteran goaltender Youssef Nasser (Kuwait SC).
With 46 goals in 102 A matches, he was responsible for all three goals Kuwait scored in the third qualifying round.