The gap between Korean and Japanese soccer is felt overseas as well.
Global soccer media ESPN prepared a time to analyze the candidates for the North Korea-China World Cup to be held in 2026 on the 22nd (Korea time). It was listed from 1st to 50th place. There were three main criteria. Ranked by how many excellent players they have, how many main players they have, and finally how many superstars they have.
In order to grasp the first criteria, the playing time of the players of the country playing in the top five European leagues was identified. To find out the second criteria, we investigated how much time the player of the country secured in the European Champions League (UCL). The distinction between superstars was based on the market value suggested by the soccer statistics media's Transfermarkt.
By scoring this, it was selected from 1st to 50th, and 50 countries were divided into 6 categories based on their chances of winning. First, South Korea was ranked 43rd. South Korea also ranked lower than countries such as Georgia, Mali, Slovenia, Scotland, and Ghana. South Korea was in the lowest classification, Tier 6, which ranges from 31st to 50th.
Tier 6 is a section in which countries that do not have much power difference from other countries that are not included in the 50th place are included. In other words, Korea is not a team that can be considered as a favorite. Given that the ranking is also low, there is no expectation for an unexpected event at the World Cup.
Japan, on the other hand, was ranked 20th and classified as Tier 5. Tier 5 is a country that can be in the middle of the World Cup and ranks from 14th to 30th. If you look at the countries in Tier 5, Uruguay, Morocco, Croatia, the United States, Serbia, and Poland were all countries that were aiming to reach the round of 16 or higher at the World Cup. I could realize that the evaluation of Japan has increased very much.
Countries in tier 4 included Norway by Erling Holan, Switzerland by Granit Xhaka, Denmark by Christian Eriksen, and Belgium by Kevin De Bruyne. Japan was classified just below the European powerhouse.
According to the FIFA rankings alone, Japan is 15th and South Korea is 23rd. It is difficult to grasp 100% of the country's power in the ranking, but there is no big difference in this ranking. However, the view from abroad is different. Japan appears to be in a similar position to FIFA's ranking, but South Korea has failed to build as much power as FIFA's ranking. It was a ranking that made me feel that the soccer gap between Korea and Japan was widening.
Finally, France and Spain were in the first tier, England, Germany and Brazil in the second tier, and the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, and Argentina in the third tier.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
