'Thank you Palestine' Iraq lost 1-2 to Palestine → Even if it drew the Iraq war in June, it succeeded in advancing to the WC for 11 consecutive times
'Thank you Palestine' Iraq lost 1-2 to Palestine → Even if it drew the Iraq war in June, it succeeded in advancing to the WC for 11 consecutive times
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The South Korean national team will have one point left before advancing to the 2026 FIFA North Korea-China World Cup finals.
Korea's national team led by Coach Hong Myung-bo had a draw with Jordan in the eighth Group B match of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA U.S.-North Korea World Cup held at Suwon World Cup Stadium at 8 p.m. on Saturday. The draw is 1-1 in three consecutive matches from the match against Palestine in November last year to Oman and Jordan.
South Korea, which only gained one point, maintains the top spot in Group B with 16 points (4 wins and 4 draws), but the gap between second-place Jordan (13 points) and third-place Iraq (12 points) is not large, so the group's No. 1 Mercury cannot be relieved.
South Korea played in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Son Heung-min was at the forefront and Hwang Hee-chan, Lee Jae-sung and Lee Dong-kyung were at the second line of attack. Park Yong-woo and Hwang In-beom filled the midfield, and Lee Tae-seok, Kwon Kyung-won, Cho Yoo-min and Seol Young-woo set up a four-back. Cho Hyun-woo defended the goal.
In the match, South Korea scored the first goal in the fifth minute of the first half when Lee Jae-sung finished Son Heung-min's corner kick, but Park Yong-woo's mistake allowed a counterattack in the 30th minute of the first half to give up the equalizer.
In the second half, Lee Jae-sung and Yang Hyun-joon connected Seol Young-woo's cross with a header, but they failed to finish and the game ended without additional goals.
Coach Hong Myung-bo made an all-out offensive in the second half by deploying Yang Min-hyuk, Yang Hyun-joon, Oh Se-hoon, and Oh Hyun-kyu, but failed to earn three points in the end. South Korea also took the overall lead in the game, but missed the victory again due to a fatal mistake.
Another rough match was staged again, and a 1-1 draw was held at home following the match against Oman. Including the away match against Palestine in November last year, it is a 1-1 draw for three consecutive matches.
Fortunately, third-place Iraq lost 1-2 to the Palestinians in Game 8.
In the match held at 3:15 a.m. on the 26th (Korea Standard Time), Iraq failed to keep its first goal and suffered a painful upset. Eamen Hussein shook the net first in the 34th minute of the first half, but he collapsed by allowing Wessam Abu Ali to tie the game in the 43rd minute of the second half and giving up the winning goal to Amid Mahajna in the 7th minute of extra time in the second half.
The defeat stopped Iraq from 12 points and put a brake on its pursuit of No. 1 ranking. In contrast, the Palestinian team, which had a dramatic victory on the day, rose to fifth place in Group B with one win, three draws and four losses (six points).
South Korea is still leading the group with 16 points. However, the gap with second-ranked Jordan (13 points) has narrowed to just three points.
If Iraq had defeated Palestine to score 15 points, the upcoming showdown with South Korea in June would have been a fierce battle for the top spot in the group. If South Korea lost the match, it would not only lose the top spot in the group, but also rule out the worst-case scenario of going to the fourth qualifying round rather than a direct ticket to the World Cup, depending on the results of Jordan and Oman. In the third qualifying round, only the first and second place in the group will go straight to the finals. 스포츠토토
In the end, Team Korea was able to ease some of the burden thanks to the surprising reversal by the Palestinians. Hong Myung-bo, who had only one to one draw against the Palestinians, Oman and Jordan in three consecutive matches, was lucky enough.
Now, South Korea will clinch its 11th consecutive World Cup qualification, at least if it draws an away match in Iraq in June.