Hong Myung Bo Ho's super awesome evaluation! Son Heung-min, the strongest country in Japan's holland, will become a star in the competition → 17th place in the WC Power Rankings
The A-match warm-up match between the Korean national soccer team and Brazil was held at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Sangam-dong, Seoul on the afternoon of the 10th. The national soccer team lost to Brazil 0-5. Son Heung-min of the national team greets his fans after the game. Sangam = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.10.10/
A warm-up match between the national soccer team and Paraguay at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 14th. Director Hong Myung-bo on the ground. Sangam = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2025.10.14/
A match warm-up match between South Korea and Ghana at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 18th. The winning South Korean players are delighted. Sangam = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.11.18/
Hong Myung-bo received tremendous evaluation ahead of the World Cup draw.
The Athletic, a global sports media outlet, released its power ranking ahead of the World Cup draw on the 5th (Korea time) along with the possibility of each country's winning the title.
The draw ceremony for the 2026 North Korea-China World Cup will be held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., at 2 a.m. on the 6th. The North Korea-China World Cup is the first tournament since the participating countries were confirmed with 48 countries under the 32-nation system. Four countries form 12 groups in the group stage. The top eight teams from the first, second and third places in each group will play in the round of 32, the starting point of the tournament. Head coaches of national teams, including Hong Myung-bo, head coach of the South Korean national soccer A team, will watch the draw ceremony for the U.S., the venue of the World Cup.
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The Athletic ranked Argentina as the most powerful team at the 2026 North-China World Cup. Lionel Messi, the winner of the 2022 Qatar World Cup and still in good shape, could not be ignored. Spain, France, and England, which are considered favorites under Argentina, have been named.
Korea was ranked 17th. It was the highest ranking among countries except Europe, South America, and the African continent. The Athletic said 'Korea is most likely to do well in this tournament among Asian countries if players with big names participate. Son Heung-min will be the star of the conversation. Hwang Hee-chan and Lee Kang-in's performance is essential if South Korea is to make the most of its home advantage and reproduce the heroic performance of 2002 when it reached the semifinals for the first time in Asia.
A warm-up match between the South Korean national soccer team and Paraguay at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 14th. When Um Ji-sung scored the first goal, Son Heung-min brings the players together to talk. Sangam = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2025.10.14/
South Korea took a high position, beating even Norway ranked 18th and Japan ranked 20th. Norway is the dark horse of Europe, having passed the European qualifiers in North American World Cup with eight wins along with world-class striker Erling Holan. Japan is not behind either. Japan is the first team to advance to the North American World Cup except for the host country. At the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Spain and Germany's Kostiraka also showed their potential to pass the group stage in the death group. However, both countries received lower ratings than Korea.
It is difficult to say that The Athletic's evaluation is perfect, but the fact that the evaluation of Korea's high point is more than expected may be the reason why Korea's performance at the North Korea-China World Cup is more focused on. At a time when Son Heung-min's last World Cup is likely, attention may be paid to whether South Korea will show a performance suitable for high evaluation.
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Meanwhile, the U.S., the host country led by Son Heung-min's teacher, finished 25th. At the bottom, New Caledonia, which seeks to advance in the intercontinental playoffs, ranked 64th.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
