Without Kim Min-jae, clean sheet Kwon Kyung-won, Yoo Min, and Hong Myung-bo won the game without losing a point in six games (against Iraq)
Jun 06, 2025
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South Korea's A national team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, won 2-0 in Group B of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup against Iraq at Basra International Stadium in Iraq on the 6th. Kim Jin-kyu's winning goal in the 18th minute of the second half and Oh Hyun-kyu's additional goal in the 37th minute of the second half earned three points.
With the victory, South Korea ranked first in Group B, beating Jordan (16 points), with five wins and four draws and 19 points in the third qualifying round. He also widened the gap with third-place Iraq (12 points), confirming his advance to the finals of the North-China World Cup regardless of the remaining results against Kuwait. The record for consecutive finals, which began at the 1986 Mexico Games, has increased to 11.
South Korea played in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Oh Se-hoon (Machida) is at the forefront, and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz), and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) are at the second line. Park Yong-woo (Al Ain) and Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord) worked together in the third term. Lee Tae-seok (Pohang), Kwon Kyung-won (Corpacan Club), Cho Yoo-min (Sharjah FC), and Seol Young-woo (Zvezda) were among the four backs. Cho Hyun-woo (Ulsan) defended the goal.
Iraq fought back with a 4-3-3 formation. Youssef Amin, Ali al-Hamadi, and Ali Jasim were at the forefront, while the midfield was formed by Ibrahim Bayesh, Amir al-Amari and Osama Rashid. The Four Bag was built by Levine Sulaka, Hussein Ali, Zayed Tashin and Merchas Doski. The goalkeeper's gloves were worn by Zara Hasan.
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Coach Hong has expressed regret for Bayern, which has not managed Kim Min-jae since March. He said "As you know, Kim Min-jae is a very important player for our team. However, a little disappointing is that Munich should have prevented it to protect players. There have been signals about the risk of injury since before. The national team was fully aware of the risk of injury", he also said.
He was not included in the starting list at all this June. Director Hong `communicated and observed constantly. Kim Min-jae was also judged to be unable to play in this game, so he was not selected. He said, "He is a player with a sense of responsibility and mission, but I excluded him from this selection because I thought he had enough opportunities in the future." Young and promising players such as Lee Han-beom and Kim Joo-sung joined, but it was not easy to expect Kim Min-jae's presence.
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He trusted the two players once again in the match against Iraq. The two players lived up to Hong's belief. Since starting, he has contributed to a scoreless victory in three games. Both Kwon Kyung-won and Cho Yoo-min responded intensively to the opponent's attack and did not provide an excuse for a run until the end of the game. There were few dangerous scenes, either. At the end of the second half, he persistently blocked Iraq's attempted counterattack to overcome the crisis of losing points and kept a scoreless victory until the end.
It is the first time that South Korea has recorded a clean sheet in the third qualifying round since the match against Jordan in the third round. It is more valuable because it is an achievement without Kim Min-jae. The defensive concentration shown by Kwon Kyung-won and Cho Yoo-min is expected to be a great help to the defense of the Korean national team in preparation for the World Cup finals in the future.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
