The South Korean national soccer team (22nd FIFA ranking), led by interim coach Hwang Sun-hong, will face Thailand (101st FIFA ranking) in the fourth round of Group C of the 2026 FIFA Canada-Mexico-U.S. (North Central America) World Cup qualifying round at 9:30 p.m. on the 26th (Korea time) at Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Currently, South Korea (7, 2 wins, 1 draw, 9 losses, 1 loss, +8) is ranked first, and Thailand (4, 1 win, 1 draw, 5 losses, 4 losses, +1) is ranked second.
In the third match, Korea ended up with a draw with Thailand at its home turf. The first to laugh was Korea. Following Jung Woo-young’s penetration pass and Lee Jae-sung’s cutback in the 42nd minute of the first half, Son scored the net with a clean finish. However, he failed to secure the lead until the end. Thailand scored the equalizer in the 17th minute of the second half by pushing a cross that had a low hit on Supanat Mue who was substituted
The Korean soccer is on a downward trajectory. It seemed to reach the world level by advancing to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but its performance at the 2023 Asian Cup was the worst. It had a bloody battle with Bahrain (3-1 win), Jordan (2-2 draw), and Malaysia (3-3 draw), which have a wide gap in objective power, while Saudi Arabia (1-1 draw, 4-2 win in penalty shootout), and Australia (2-1 win). The team suffered crushing defeat to Jordan (0-2 loss), which they met again in the semifinal.
The last match against Thailand is no different. Only coach Jurgen Klinsman remained in the team. The flow itself was one-sided. One can feel it just by looking at a few statistics. Korea displayed overwhelming performance against Thailand with a occupancy ratio of 80:20, shooting 25:6, effective shooting 8:2, Big Chance 6:1, shooting 18:4, passing success rate 91: 71%, and long ball success rate 67: 43%. However, the team was unable to subdue the opponent team due to bad luck and lack of decisiveness in front of the goal post, and tied the game.
It would be nice if we take care of both the content and the result, but now we have to bring the result somehow. When asked if he had any message for the players after the match against Thailand, Hwang Seon-hong, who is leading his team as a firefighter, replied, “It was important if we played with one mind and with one mind. I thought we did so, and the same goes for the team. If the result of this match is not good, I think our efforts will be tarnished. I need to prepare with more will.”
The national team, which is watching from Bangkok, is armed with determination. Each team is trying their best to adapt to the hot weather as soon as possible, and they are working hard together in a sweat on the training ground. However, if they fail to produce an outcome, they will be tarnished as Hwang Sun-hong said.
Victory is the only way to soothe the fans who are tired of the poor performance that started at the Asian Cup. As Korea dominated Asia, Korea needs to show a different performance against Thailand.
BY: 바카라사이트