North Korea lost to Iran in the 2026 FIFA North Korea-China World Cup qualifying round, failing to win five consecutive games.
North Korea lost 2-3 to Iran in the fifth Group A match of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North Korea-China at the New National Stadium in Vientiane, Laos on the 14th.
Despite returning to the halfway point of the third qualifying round for the World Cup, North Korea failed to secure victory for five consecutive matches. After losing 0-1 to Uzbekistan in the first match, the North secured one point each against Qatar (2-2 draw) and the United Arab Emirates (1-1 draw), and suffered another bitter defeat on the day after losing 0-1 to Kyrgyzstan in the fourth match.
North Korea, which had two draws and three losses, remained at the bottom of the six teams in Group A with two points. Iran, which is seeking to advance to the World Cup finals for the fourth consecutive time, is leading the league by accumulating 13 points with four wins and one draw.
In the third qualifying round, the top two players in each group will advance to the World Cup finals. The third to fourth players in each group will be given a ticket to the fourth qualifying round, and North Korea’s realistic goal is that it will be able to advance to the World Cup finals. In Group A, there is not much gap between the third-ranked United Arab Emirates, the fourth-ranked Qatar with four points, the fifth-ranked Kyrgyzstan with three points and the sixth-ranked North with two points.
North Korea, which will play its third home match of the World Cup qualifying round in Laos, has been busy defending against Iran’s wave of attacks since the beginning of the day. Then, in the 29th minute of the first half, Mehdi Gayedi, who penetrated the ball that Mehdi Taremi stabbed forward, finished it with his right foot in front of the net to take the lead. Then, in the 41st minute of the first half, Muhammad Mohevi connected the pass that Taremi gave to the right with a neat right-footed shot to score an additional goal. Mohevi gave Iran a 3-0 lead by connecting Taremi’s pass to the goal four minutes later. 카지노사이트
North Korea was not sitting still. North Korea, which launched counterattacks in the second half, started to drive Iran with its numerical superiority on its back when Iran’s Shoja Halilzadeh was sent off at the seventh minute of the second half. Then, Kang Kook-chul’s cross hit Taremi’s foot and led to an own goal at the 11th minute of the second half, and the team started to chase after her. At the 14th minute of the second half, Kim Yu-seong scored a goal in a chaotic situation at the gate, and chased after her by one goal difference. At the 22nd minute of the second half, Iran was given a penalty kick, but North Korean goalkeeper Kang Ju-hyuk defended Taremi’s kick as a kicker to boost the team’s momentum.
However, the North failed to score an equalizer in the end. It was regrettable that Li Chou-guk’s right-footed strong shot hit the crossbar in the 30th minute of the second half.