 |
Son Heung-min of South Korea (left) celebrates after scoring against China during the teams' Group C match in the second round of the Asian World Cup qualification tournament at Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre in Shenzhen, China. (Yonhap) |
South Korea stayed at No. 23 in the last edition of the FIFA rankings before the top Asian men's competition kicks off next month.
FIFA unveiled its final edition of the men's rankings for 2023 on Thursday evening. Coached by Jurgen Klinsmann, South Korea remained at No. 23.
They are the third-highest ranked team in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), trailing Japan (No. 17) and Iran (No. 21).
That trio will be among the favorites to be crowned the champions at the AFC Asian Cup, which will get under way in Qatar on Jan. 12. South Korea will try to win their first Asian Cup title since 1960.
South Korea will be playing out of Group E against Bahrain (No. 86) on Jan. 15, Jordan (No. 87) on Jan. 20, and Malaysia (No. 130) on Jan. 25.
There are six groups of four. The top two nations from each group, plus the four best third-place teams, will qualify for the round of 16.
Iran will be in Group C, and Japan will play in Group D.
Should both South Korea and Iran win their respective groups, the earliest they can meet in the knockouts is in the quarterfinals. If South Korea and Japan finish atop their groups and keep progressing, they will meet in the championship final.
Japan last won the Asian Cup in 2011, while Iran's most recent title came in 1976. (Yonhap)
