South Korea Shifts Focus To 2026 World Cup Qualifiers

JAKARTA - South Korea immediately diverted focus after being stopped in the semifinals of the 2023 Asian Cup. Coach Jurgen Klinsmann is now preparing the team for the 2026 Asian Zone World Cup Qualification match.

Taegeuk Warriors nearest to face Thailand at home on March 21, 2024. Five days later, it was their turn to visit the White Elephant's house.

The continued match of Group C of the 2026 Asian Zone World Cup Qualification will return in June 2024. South Korea is scheduled to meet Singapore in two legs in the group's final match on June 6 and 11, 2024.

Qualifying for the 2026 World Cup finals is the following target for Jurgen Klinsmann. No wonder, he asked his team not to lament the failure in the 2023 Asian Cup.

"Now, we have to prepare for World Cup Qualification (2026)," said Klinsmann.

The German coach is very optimistic that his troops can return to appear in the World Cup finals. Valuable lessons from the 2023 Asian Cup are an important capital for developing players.

As is known, South Korea's appearance in the 2023 Asian Cup was not satisfactory. They struggled in the group stage and only secured the ticket to the knockout round as runners-up.

Taegeuk Warriors then won dramatically in the last 16 and quarter-finals before being stopped by Jordan in the semifinals with a score of 0-2.

Therefore, Klinsmann and his troops promised to show a better game in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.

"The coach is always responsible for how a tournament goes for a team. It's a very interesting tournament because we played dramas with Saudi Arabia (late 16) and Australia (quarter-finals). As you can see with Jordan in the semifinals, it shows how difficult our group is."

"We will now analyze every moment in this tournament (the 2023 Asian Cup). We have a bit of work to do. There are a lot of good things we see too. This is a growing team."

"In general, I enjoyed this tournament and learned a lot. It was amazing to see many countries fighting in this match," said Klinsmann.

South Korea's appearance in the 2023 Asian Cup had drawn criticism. They only won five points in the group stage from one win and two draws. In fact, they drew against the Malaysian weak team 3-3.

Son Heung-min and colleagues won dramatically against Saudi Arabia. Cho Gue-sung's late goal in second-half injury time saved the defeat. Finally, they were able to win on penalties 4-2.

South Korea's move was not convincing when facing Australia in the quarter-finals. Again, they scored late in second-half injury time through Hwang Hee-chan who saved the team from defeat.

Luckily, Son Heung-min was able to score a winning goal in extra time.

However, luck did not always reach South Korea. Jordan turned out to be a team that could focus for the full 90 minutes and had a strong defense.

Jordan was able to expose South Korea's weaknesses. Jurgen Klinsmann's students were frustrated without a single shot on target.

In addition, South Korea's defense is also a concern. They conceded 10 goals throughout the 2023 Asian Cup.

That figure is the highest during their participation in the Asian Cup. In fact, the number of concedings was only one goal less than the total number of conceded in the last three (11 conceded) participants.