Korea and Australia are competing for the first seed in the 2026 North and Central America World Cup Asian region third round qualifier.
Korean soccer maintained its third place in the FIFA rankings among Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member countries with a complete victory over Thailand. It is quite important to maintain this position, and in order to do so, a complete victory in the two-game series scheduled for June is essential.
The national soccer team, led by interim coach Hwang Seon-hong, won 3-0 in the 4th match of Group C of the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup Asia Region 2nd qualifying round against Thailand held at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on the 26th. .
As a result, Korea maintained first place in the group with 3 wins and 1 draw (10 points), ahead of China (7 points). In addition, it maintained the 3rd highest FIFA ranking among AFC member countries, following Japan and Iran. 메이저사이트
Korea ranked 22nd in the FIFA rankings announced in February, and ranked 3rd among Asia, following Japan (18th) and Iran (20th). However, on the 21st, in the 3rd game of the preliminary round against Thailand, they tied 1-1 and temporarily lost 3rd place to Australia.
Fortunately, Korea won the away game in Thailand, pushed Australia out, and rose back to third place among AFC member countries.
Among AFC member countries, the top three teams in the FIFA rankings will be granted Pot 1 status in the third qualifying round (final qualifying round) of the World Cup starting in September. Japan and Iran are already overwhelmingly occupying the top two spots, and Korea and Australia are competing for the last remaining spots.
Soccer commentator Park Chan-ha said, “If we go to pot 2, there is a greater possibility that we will have to deal with Japan and Iran, which we want to avoid. He said that if he is in a group with Japan and Iran and meets Iraq in port 3 and a team from the Middle East that is on the rise recently in ports 4 and 5, a difficult schedule is expected. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are also difficult opponents, but Japan and Iran are teams that Korea wants to avoid because they are ahead in objective power and have a lot of experience in the World Cup finals. Korea, which has to aim for a decent group beyond the third qualifying round and into the World Cup finals, must avoid difficult teams as much as possible and raise its FIFA ranking. FIFA allocates World Cup pots according to rankings. At the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Korea was ranked 29th in the world and was assigned to Pot 3, avoiding group stage matches against formidable teams such as Morocco, Senegal, and Poland. In addition, if you are assigned the number 1 seed, you may have an advantage in the 3rd preliminary round schedule. Commissioner Park said, “The schedule for the third preliminary round has not been announced yet. However, in previous World Cup qualifiers, the No. 1 seed had an early home game advantage. “This time too, it will proceed with a similar schedule,” he explained. In addition, “If advancement to the finals is confirmed early in the third preliminary round, Korea can conduct various experiments through evaluation matches without participating in the subsequent preliminary rounds. Therefore, assigning the No. 1 seed in the third qualifying round can be a great help in preparing for the World Cup,” he added. First of all, for Korea to maintain 3rd place in the AFC rankings and secure the 1st pot, the results of the two-game series against Singapore (6th, away) and China (11th, home) in June are important. Singapore and China have higher FIFA rankings than Bangladesh and Palestine, whom Australia will face in June, so if Korea wins both games, its ranking will not change and Korea will remain in third place among AFC member countries. 토토사이트 추천