Aiming to guarantee their progression to the third round of Asian World Cup 2026 Qualifying, South Korea will travel to take on Singapore on Thursday.
A single point in their final two group outings would cement a top-two finish for the visitors, while their hosts are nine points worse off and six behind second place, meaning any hopes of advancing are resting on a pair of wins to end their campaign.
Match preview
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Singapore head into the penultimate round of their Asian World Cup qualifying second-round campaign in search of a first win in the group, having struggled thus far and fallen all but out of reach towards progressing further to what would be their first-ever appearance on the global stage.
Their latest World Cup bid began in the first round of continental qualifying with a two-legged tie against Guam in October, and the Lions booked their place in the second-round group with a 3-1 aggregate triumph, before enduring a tough start late last year with a 5-0 beating at the hands of South Korea and a 3-1 loss to Thailand.
Then under the new management of Tsutomu Ogura, Singapore kicked off 2024 with back-to-back group games against China in search of a first victory, and they were at least able to come from 2-0 down to put a point on the board on home turf, having trailed at the break before Faris Ramli pulled one back early in the second half and Jacob Mahler netted the leveller nine minutes from time.
That set up a trip to China in late March knowing that a victory would see them move level on points with two games remaining, but Ogura's team would come away empty-handed, despite Ramli tying the game at a goal apiece in the first half, as Fernandinho put the hosts back ahead soon after the hour mark and Wu Lei and Wei Shihao put the game out of sight in the dying embers.
Now trailing the second qualifying spot for the third round by six points with six left to play for, and with a vastly inferior goal difference to China, any hopes of Singapore progressing to the third round of World Cup qualifying are resting on a major turnaround in the final rounds of games, starting with a much-needed first win at home on Thursday while relying on Thailand to beat China in the group's other fixture.
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That will be no easy task, though, as the visitors arrive aiming to book their place in the third round and continue a near-perfect group record, having built a lead in top spot in their bid to reach an 11th consecutive World Cup in 2026.
After progressing through the group stage and exiting in the round of 16 in the last iteration of the global competition in 2022, South Korea kicked off their latest Asian qualifying campaign in the second-round group and made a dream start with a 5-0 thrashing of Singapore in the reverse fixture of Thursday's meeting, as Cho Gue-sung, Hwang Hee-chan, Son Heung-min, Hwang Ui-jo and Lee Kang-in all got on the scoresheet, before making it back-to-back resounding wins by beating China 3-0 with Son hitting a brace before Jung Seung-hyun added a third in the dying embers.
The Taegeuk Warriors then began 2024 in the AFC Asian Cup, advancing to the semi-finals only to drop out at the hands of Jordan, before resuming their World Cup 2026 bid with a pair of games against Thailand in March, initially sharing the points in the first meeting in Seoul as Suphanat Mueanta pegged them back on the hour mark after Son had his nation ahead late in the first half.
A trip to Bankgok then followed for the reverse fixture, and they would move all but out of sight in the top two with a comfortable 3-0 victory, as Lee Jae-sung opened the scoring in the 19th minute and Son and Park Jin-seop added second-half goals to wrap up the win.
After Hwang Sun-hong oversaw those fixtures, South Korea now head into their final two games under the new temporary stewardship of Kim Do-hoon, and boasting a three-point lead over China and a six-point lead over third-placed Thailand with a far superior goal difference, they will set out to book their place in the next round and seal top spot with another victory on Thursday.
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Singapore are without several important squad members heading into their final two second-round games this month, with experienced defenders Nazrul Nazari, Anumanthan Kumar and Shakir Hamzah not in the squad after being called up for the China matches, while Zulfahmi Arifin has also dropped out and forward Shawal Anuar was a late withdrawal from the squad.
Hariss Harun, who captains the Lions and boasts 130 international caps, should again play a key role at the back, likely alongside Irfan Fandi at the heart of the defence, while Harhys Stewart and Jacob Mahler will both fight to keep their places in midfield after getting the nod in the 4-1 defeat to China last time out.
Anuar led the line in that latest outing, and in his absence Ikhsan Fandi should come in up top from the outset, having already notched up 17 international goals in 36 caps, while Faris Ramli is another danger man on the left wing having taken his tally to 13 for the Lions with the leveller against China in their eventual loss.
South Korea have called up a strong squad for their final two group games, although Kim Young-gwon, Cho Gue-sung and Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae are notable absentees with the latter having missed the final Bundesliga game of the season through injury.
With Kim Min-jae and Kim Young-gwon having started together in the centre of a back four against Thailand last time out and regular right back Kim Mooh-hwan also not involved, the Taegeuk Warriors head into Thursday's game with a new-look defence, and Kwon Kyung-won and Cho Yu-min may instead partner up with Hwang In-beom remaining a key man at the base of the midfield.
In his first game in charge, Kim Do-hoon may deploy a similarly attacking setup to the one which thrashed their upcoming opponents 5-0 last year, with Wolverhampton Wanderers' Hwang Hee-chan, Paris Saint-Germain's Lee Kang-in and talismanic captain Son Heung-min, who has netted five goals in four group games this campaign to move onto 46 in 125 caps, all bound to start up top.
Singapore possible starting lineup:
Sunny; Baharudin, Harun, Irfan Fandi, Ryhan; Stewart, Mahler; Song, Shahiran, Ramli; Ikhsan Fandi
South Korea possible starting lineup:
Jo; Jun, Kwon, Cho, J Kim; I Hwang; H Hwang, K Lee, J Lee, Hong; Son
We say: Singapore 0-3 South Korea
While certainly disrupted by several recent managerial changes and the loss of important players to injuries, South Korea do still boast far more quality than their hosts, particularly at the top end of the pitch, and they should dish out another beating to the Lions in Singapore.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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