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Members of the South Korean men's Asian Games football team prepare for the start of a training session at the National Football Center in Paju, northwest of Seoul, on July 25, 2023. (Yonhap) |
South Korea will take on China and Thailand in the second round of the Asian qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup beginning in November.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held the draw for the regional qualifiers for the big tournament Thursday. South Korea, ranked 28th, ended up with 80th-ranked China and 113th-ranked Thailand in Group C.
The fourth team in the group will be the winner of the first round matchup between Singapore and Guam.
The first Group C matches will be played on Nov. 16.
Of the 46 AFC member nations, the bottom 20 teams in the latest FIFA world rankings will begin their qualifying campaign in the first round. They were divided into 10 pairings Thursday, with each team playing one home and one away match on Oct. 12 and 17.
The 10 winners will then advance to the second round, joined by the remaining 26 teams based on the FIFA rankings.
South Korea are the fourth-highest ranked AFC team, behind Japan (No. 20), Iran (No. 22) and Australia (No. 27).
The second round features nine groups of four. Teams will play in a home-and-away round-robin format between November this year and June next year.
South Korea will be the home team against Singapore or Guam on Nov. 16 and will travel to China on Nov. 21.
South Korea will then host Thailand on March 21 next year and visit Thailand five days later. On June 6, South Korea will be at Singapore or Guam for an away match and will close out the second round at home against China on June 11.
Group winners and runners-up from each of the nine groups will reach the third round. Those 18 teams will also secure their places at the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.
In the third round, the 18 teams will be divided into three groups of six. The top two teams from each group will qualify directly for the World Cup.
The third- and fourth-placed teams will proceed to the fourth round, where they will be divided into two groups of three. They will play against each other once at a neutral site, and the winners of each group will qualify for the World Cup.
The runners-up from each group will reach the fifth round, where they will compete home-and-away across two legs. The winning team will represent Asia in the inter-confederation playoffs for a chance to grab the final World Cup ticket.
The draw for the first two rounds will take place July 27 in Kuala Lumpur.
The 2026 World Cup, to be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, will be the largest in history with 48 countries in action, up from 32.
Asia will now have 8.5 slots available -- eight direct slots and one inter-confederation playoff slot, up from 4.5 places for previous events.
Coached by Jurgen Klinsmann, South Korea have played at every World Cup since 1986. (Yonhap)
