Depleted S. Korea Trying to Stay atop Group in World Cup Qualifying Match vs. Jordan

SEOUL, March 24 (Korea Bizwire) — In a matter of days, South Korea went from feeling hopeful they could grab an early World Cup berth to standing on the precipice of losing the top spot in their qualification group.

Such is the life of a depleted team without several injured players, including their most creative playmaker.

The undermanned South Korea will host Jordan in Group B action in the third round of the Asian World Cup qualification at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, about 30 kilometers south of Seoul, at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

South Korea will be without Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Lee Kang-in, who suffered a left ankle injury during a 1-1 draw against Oman last Thursday.

Lee had replaced Birmingham City midfielder Paik Seung-ho late in the first half after Paik, starting in place of banged-up Feyenoord midfielder Hwang In-beom, sustained a hamstring injury.

South Korea were already without Bayern Munich center back Kim Min-jae, who had been cut the previous weekend due to left Achilles tendinitis. Jung Seung-hyun of Al-Wasl, a candidate to take Kim’s place, was held out against Oman due to a calf injury he’d picked up during training.

On Saturday, head coach Hong Myung-bo decided to drop Lee, Paik and Jung from the squad without naming replacements. In particular, South Korea will miss Lee’s ability to change the complexion of a match with one pass.

Case in point: South Korea had nothing going against Oman for the first half hour and did not even have a shot attempt. Lee subbed in for Paik in the 38th minute and then set up Hwang Hee-chan’s goal three minutes later by threading the needle with a through ball.

If South Korea had defeated Oman last Thursday, it would have set up a situation where a win over Jordan would have put them in the 2026 World Cup with two matches to spare. The two best nations from each of the three groups in this round will qualify for the big competition, and South Korea would have been assured of a top-two finish.

However, after the disappointing draw — Hong called it the team’s “worst performance” so far in the third round — South Korea must beat Jordan just to stay atop the Group B tables.

South Korea, world No. 23, lead the group with 15 points but 64th-ranked Jordan are only three points back after beating Palestine 3-1 on Thursday. In the goal difference, the first tiebreaker, South Korea only hold a slim lead at +7 to +6.

If Jordan beat South Korea on Tuesday, then they will climb to the top of Group B. Iraq are in third place, also with 12 points but with a +2 goal differential, and they could threaten South Korea for second place too.

The remaining veterans will have to pick up the slack for South Korea. Captain Son Heung-min said after the Oman match that he was disappointed with himself and regretted letting his teammates down by playing so poorly. He was not effective at all against Oman, though the same could be said about many other attackers.

Without enough healthy bodies, Hong may also have to give young and largely unproven players some significant minutes. That group includes Yang Hyun-jun of Celtic FC, Bae Jun-ho of Stoke City and Yang Min-hyeok of Queens Park Rangers — all of them 22 or younger.

South Korea were also shorthanded the last time they played Jordan in October 2024. South Korea prevailed 2-0 then, despite missing Son, sidelined with a hamstring injury, and losing Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Hwang Hee-chan to a leg injury in the 21st minute.

Jordan were also compromised in that match. Winger Mousa Al-Tamari was sidelined with an ankle injury, and forward Yazan Al-Naimat only played the second half due to a rib injury. Both are back healthy, and Al-Tamari scored against Palestine last week.

(Yonhap)