Iraq beats Oman 1-0 to chase South Korea by three points'100th place' Hong Myung-bo-ho leads in a shaky way
Nov 20, 2024
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Hong Myung-bo, who ended up in a lethargic draw against Palestine, ranked 100th in the FIFA rankings, maintained an uneasy lead by allowing a three-point chase to the second place in the group.
The South Korean national football team drew 1-1 in Group B 6 of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup at Amman Stadium in Jordan on the 19th (Korea time).
The national team, which lost the first point in the 12th minute due to a back pass miss by Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), scored an equalizer in the 16th minute with a three-way pass leading to Lee Myung-jae (Ulsan), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) and Son Heung-min (Tottenham). He failed to score additional points for the remaining 80 minutes and secured only one point.
South Korea, which drew with Palestine after four consecutive wins, recorded four wins, two draws and 14 points in six matches in the third qualifying round.
The point gap with the second place was widened from the previous five points to six points, one more point, but concerns happened two hours later. Among the second-place teams, Iraq won three points, reducing the difference to three points.
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Iraq, which lost 2-3 to South Korea in the last two games and drew 0-0 with Jordan, scored 3 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss and 11 points, bringing down second-place Jordan (8 points) in a version immediately after the game and retaking second-place.
For South Korea, the three-point difference is a score that can never be reassured, with the third qualifying round turning the halfway point.
In the third qualifying round of the World Cup, a total of six teams ranked first and second in three groups will win direct tickets to the finals, so the key is how far the gap between the third place and the second place is.
The ideal scenario is that Kuwait will win the match between third-place Jordan (8 points) and sixth-place Kuwait (3 points), which will be held shortly. If Kuwait wins at home, it will be six points apart from third place with a total of four World Cup qualifiers remaining in March and June next year. Conversely, if Jordan wins, the difference between the first and third places will be reduced to three points, marking 2025 as a three-way system.
Let's compare it to other groups. Japan (16 points), the leader of Group C, won a 3-1 victory in an away match in China on the 19th and virtually confirmed its advance to the finals by widening the gap between the third place and 10 points.
Iran (16 points), the leader of Group A, defeated Kyrgyzstan 3-2 on the same day, widening the gap between the third and third places to more than six points.
yoonjinman@sportschosun.com
