A red flag has been turned on for the Korean men’s soccer team, which is trying to advance to the World Cup finals for the 11th consecutive time.
The South Korean men’s soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, will play the second round of the third Asian qualifying round for the “2026 FIFA North-China World Cup” against Oman at 11 p.m. on the 10th (Korea time) at Sultan Qaboos Stadium in Muscat, Oman.
Hong Myung-bo will depart for Oman via Incheon International Airport early on the 7th.
According to the Korea Football Association, Hong Myung-bo stayed out for a day after the match against Palestine on the 5th.
And after reconvening at a hotel near Incheon International Airport on the evening of the 6th, he will arrive in Muscat on the morning of the 7th local time via Doha, Qatar.
It is not a pleasant away game. Korea had a scoreless draw with the Palestinians in the first match.
As Korea, which ranks 23rd in FIFA rankings, faces the 96th-ranked Palestinians at home, the team was expected to win. However, the team got off to a shaky start as it failed to catch up on details, let alone the result.
Coach Hong took the helm of the national team for the first time in 10 years since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
After that, he returned to the national team in July for the first time in 10 years after serving as an administrator of the Korea Football Association, the Chinese league, and Ulsan HD coach of the K League 1 professional football.
However, as controversy over fairness arose in the process of appointing the coach, it did not receive full support from the fans.
As a result, he had to win both the content and the result in the first match against Palestine, but in fact, it was a 0-0 draw that was close to defeat.
Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), and Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) were the best, but they accepted the shocking result.
At the scene of the Palestinian match, there was booing at head coach Hong before the game, but after the draw, there was a greater voice of criticism.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t win the first match of the third qualifying round,” Hong said. “I fully understand how soccer fans feel right now. (Criticism, booing, etc.) I think I have to endure that part in the future.”
“As planned for the remaining four days, we will consider the most important and prepare for the part of using the players’ physicality,” he said, expressing his willingness to win his first victory against Oman.
In the third qualifying round, in which 18 countries are divided into three groups, six of the 8.5 World Cup qualifiers allocated to Asia will be decided.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the World Cup finals, while the third and fourth teams will play in the fourth preliminary round where they will compete for two tickets. The fifth and sixth teams will be eliminated. 스포츠토토
Korean soccer has been on the World Cup finals since the 1986 Mexico Games. Korea, which holds the Asian record in this category, will try to advance to the finals for 11 consecutive World Cups in North Korea, China and the U.S.