A milestone set amid twists and turns, '11 wins and 5 draws out of 16 games' without defeat in the World Cup qualifying round for the first time in 16 years
A milestone set amid twists and turns, '11 wins and 5 draws out of 16 games' without defeat in the World Cup qualifying round for the first time in 16 years
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South Korea has achieved a milestone of winning the World Cup qualifying round for the first time in 16 years.
The South Korean men's national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, played the 10th Group B match (final match) of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA North-China World Cup at Seoul World Cup Stadium at 8 p.m. on the 10th, winning a 4-0 victory over Kuwait.
Neither team had much motivation on the day. In the last nine matches, Korea beat Iraq 2-0 to confirm its advance to the World Cup finals, while Kuwait was eliminated from the World Cup qualifying round as it lost to Palestine 0-2.
It is meaningful because it was a victory recorded while head coach Hong was operating a large number of rotations. On this day, the national team changed seven seats on the starting list compared to the match against Iraq. Oh Hyun-kyu was positioned instead of Oh Se-hoon, and Bae Jun-ho and Jeon Jin-woo were positioned instead of Lee Jae-sung and Hwang Hee-chan in the second line. As Hwang In-beom's partner, Won Doo-jae was selected instead of Park Yong-woo, and the center back combination changed from Kwon Kyung-won and Cho Yoo-min to Kim Joo-sung and Lee Han-beom. The goalkeeper also started Lee Chang-geun instead of Cho Hyun-woo.
As a result, Korea won without much difficulty at home. He took the lead throughout the game and pushed Kuwait, and Hwang In-beom's corner kick led to the opponent's defense Fahad Alhageri's own goal in the 30th minute of the first half. In the second half, starting with an additional goal by Lee Kang-in's elaborate shot in the 6th minute, Oh Hyun-kyu's powerful turning shot in the 9th minute of the second half, and Lee Jae-sung's shot in a mixed situation after a corner kick in the 27th minute of the second half were all scored to win 4-0.
As the team finished the tournament with victory, Korea finished 16 matches of the second and third World Cup qualifiers with 11 wins, five draws, and no loss. It was the first time since 2009, when Huh finished the preliminary match with an unbeaten record ahead of the 2010 South African World Cup. At the time, Huh recorded seven wins and seven draws in 14 matches through the third and final qualifying round.
There were so many things that happened between the second and third qualifiers. Jurgen Klinsmann took the helm at the beginning of the second qualifying round, but Klinsmann was dismissed in February last year due to his lack of funds during the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup. As a result, Hwang Sun-hong, who was on the Olympic team, temporarily took charge of the national team in March, and Kim Do-hoon, who was on the team in June, temporarily took charge of the national team, and played two matches each in the second qualifying round.
From the third qualifying round, Hong led the national team. However, 메이저사이트 the Korea Football Association's power enhancement committee did not make fair procedures in the process of appointing Hong in July last year, which led to the revelation by then-power enhancement committee member Park Ju-ho and a specific audit by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. While the KFA lost trust, Hong faced a crisis of losing three consecutive matches in the third qualifying round, but as a result, he achieved the primary outcome of advancing to the World Cup finals.