Korea women's football team to play 2 friendly matches with US in Oct.

The South Korea women's national football team will play friendly matches against the United States in October, the sport's national governing body said Thursday.

The Korea Football Association confirmed it reached an agreement with its American counterpart to have two friendly matches in the US The two sides will first meet at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Oct. 20 (Korean time), and will square off again three days later at Sahlen's Stadium in Cary, North Carolina.

The South Korean women, ranked No. 16 in the latest FIFA rankings, have never beaten the top-ranked Americans in their nine previous meetings, marking only two draws and seven losses. They last met in May 2015 in New Jersey, where the match ended in a scoreless draw.

After taking on the three-time FIFA Women's World Cup winners, South Korea will travel to Tokyo in December to compete at the East Asian Football Federation Women's East Asian Cup. The biennial tournament features South Korea, North Korea, China and Japan.

South Korean head coach Yoon Duk-yeo said these matches are tune-ups for the 2018 Asian Football Confederation Women's Asian Cup, which also doubles as the qualifying tournament for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.

In April, South Korea clinched a place at the Women's Asian Cup in Jordan after finishing atop the group that featured North Korea, India, Uzbekistan and Hong Kong. The top-five teams among eight nations at next year's Asian tournament are allowed to join the women's showpiece event in 2019.

"After our success in April, I think we're getting close to reaching the 2019 World Cup in France," said Yoon, who extended his contract with the KFA through the next World Cup earlier Thursday.

"I think the friendlies against the US will give us valuable experience."

 The KFA said the South Korean squad for the US friendlies will be announced in early October. (Yonhap)