Kim Do-hoon ended the 2026 North and Central America World Cup Asia Second Qualifier with a smile. Interim head coach Kim Do-hoon’s South Korea won the final Group C match of the North American World Cup Asian Qualifiers 1-0 on Wednesday at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, thanks to a 16th-minute strike from Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain). Having already clinched first place in the group and a spot in the third round of qualifying with a win in the fifth match, South Korea won their final game to finish the second round on a high note with a record of five wins and one draw (16 points).
With the win, the 23rd-ranked South Korea maintained their third-place ranking among Asian Football Confederation (AFC) members in this month’s rankings, giving them an advantage in the draw for the third qualifying round, where they will be drawn from Port 1. The third qualifying round will see 18 teams split into three groups, with South Korea avoiding Asia’s top three, Japan and Iran. It will be paired with only the next-lowest-ranked country in the FIFA rankings. The draw for the third qualifying round, which will determine six of Asia’s 8.5 tickets to the knockout stages, will take place on July 27 at AFC Headquarters in 카지노사이트 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
South Korea also leads the all-time series against China 23-13-2, including a recent five-game winning streak. Notably, South Korea has never lost to China at home, going 5-5-1 in 10 matches. Kim Do-hoon, who took temporary charge of the national team in June’s two A-Match matches due to delays in hiring a permanent head coach, has been successful in his role, winning both matches.
Meanwhile, North Korea’s national soccer team has also dramatically qualified for the third round of the 2026 North American Football Confederations Cup after defeating Myanmar. North Korea defeated Myanmar 4-1 in the sixth and final match of Group B of the Asian qualifiers for the North American Championship in Vientiane, Laos, on Nov. 11 (local time). With the win, the North Koreans, who have three points from three matches in Group B, have accumulated nine points and secured second place in the group at the last minute. North Korea’s victory over last-place Myanmar (D1, D5, D1) allowed the North Koreans to leapfrog last-place Syria (W2, D3, D7) into second place in the group thanks to a 0-5 loss to Japan in the earlier match.
Indonesia, led by the ‘Shin Tae-yong Magic’, also qualified for the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North and Central American World Cup. On the same day, the Indonesian national team defeated the Philippines 2-0 in the final Group F match of the second round of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA Americas Cup Asia Pacific at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia. With the victory, Indonesia, who finished the second round of qualifying with 10 points, increased their goal difference to four points from first-place Iraq (15) and third-place Vietnam (6) heading into the final match, and secured second place in the group regardless of the outcome of the Vietnam-Iraq match. On the other hand, Vietnam, coached by Kim Sang-sik, finished third and were eliminated from the second round of qualifying.
Finally, China also advanced to the third round despite a 0-1 loss to South Korea. It was dramatic. Thailand beat Singapore 3-1, while China lost to South Korea 0-1. Both teams were tied on 8 points (2 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses), 0 goals against, and 9 goals for. However, China, with a 1-1 head-to-head record, punched their ticket to the third qualifying round, much to the delight of Chinese soccer fans. The number of qualifying nations will increase from 32 to 48 starting with the North America Cup. The number of tickets allocated to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has also increased from 4.5 to 8.5. FIFA breathed a sigh of relief when China qualified for the third round of qualifiers after expanding the field to 48 nations in an effort to expand the Asian soccer market.