The day of confrontation, which could be the most important in Hong Myung-bo’s trip to the World Cup finals, has come.
The South Korean national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, will play at 8 p.m. on the 15th at Yongin Mir Stadium in Gyeonggi Province against Iraq in Group B of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup.
Hong Myung-bo, who won 2-0 in Jordan on the 10th, is ranked first in Group B with two wins and one draw (7 points) in the third qualifying round for the World Cup. Although they are tied with Iraq in points, they remain in first place with a 4-2 goal difference.
A pre-official press conference was held at Yongin Mir Stadium from 3:30 p.m. on the 14th, a day before the game. Coach Hong Myung-bo and Kim Min-jae appeared in front of the reporters.
Hong said, “Since it is a match against an opponent with the smallest difference in points and the strongest team, we will somehow bring about results. I have gained confidence in the squad since the match against Jordan, but I will not let my guard down and try to get good results.”
In fact, Hong Myung-bo’s actual competitors in Group B were expected to be Jordan and Iraq. South Korea won 2-0 away to Jordan on the 10th to gain an advantage in the group ranking competition, which will directly advance to the World Cup finals to second place. 메이저놀이터
If Hong Myung-bo defeats even Iraq of Jesus Casas, who is so competent that he was mentioned as a candidate for the head coach of the Korean national team, he can finish the A-match period in October by winning both countries, which were considered the most troublesome, and ranking first in points alone.
After the A-match period, South Korea will meet Jordan at home on March 25 next year and Iraq at away games on June 5. However, these are matches equivalent to the eighth and ninth rounds of the third qualifying round, and if Hong Myung-bo secures a second or higher ranking in the group before then and wins a ticket to the World Cup finals, his importance will drop sharply.
Therefore, winning the match against Iraq is all the more important. Coach Hong Myung-bo is also well aware that if he wins on the day, he will be able to take a big breather.