World Cup Qualification for South Korea continues on Thursday evening with a super important and must win game against already qualified Iran. South Korea go into the game at the Seoul World Cup Stadium knowing that a win could seal a place in the finals, or at least keep their fate in their own hands.
AFC World Cup 2018 Qualifying Update
The Group A table so far;
Iran have already booked their place in Russia and are 7 points clear at the top of the group. South Korea sit in 2nd place, only a point ahead of Uzbekistan. Syria are 3 points behind them in 4th, with Qatar and finally China sitting at the bottom maybe now out of the running.
South Korea vs. Iran – Preview and Prediction (Thursday August 31st 2016 at 9pm – Local Time)
South Korea:
South Korea have a strong recent history regarding World Cup Qualification, having made the finals 8 times on the bounce now. With their best performance coming in 2002 when they reached the Semi-Finals on home soil. German coach Uli Stielike lost his job following a poor defeat to Qatar back in June. However they’ve looked good for the most part during qualification, apart from defeats to Iran, Qatar and China. Korea be looking for an improved performance on home soil.
Key Player: Tottenham Hotspur Striker Son Heung-Min had a fantastic 2016-17 season for Tottenham and will be looking to bring some of that form into the national side.
Iran:
Iran have qualified for the World Cup Finals 5 times previously and have already claimed a spot in Russia. They are lead by former Manchester United assistant and Portugal Boss Carlos Queiroz. They’ve won their last 3 qualifiers beating China, Iraq and Uzbekistan. They have a strong defence and will be difficult to break down.
Key Player: Mehdi Taremi has scored key goals in the last 3 qualifiers. He is also a key forward for Persepolis.
Head-to-Head:
These sides have played each other 14 times over the years with the record looking like this;
South Korea 3
Draws 3
Iran 8
South Korea have only beaten Iran once at home back in 2004. Iran have won the last 4 games all by a single goal 1-0.
Prediction:
South Korea 1 – 0 Iran
They will be a very close game, however Iran have already qualified and therefore have less to play for. Therefore we see a very narrow win for Korea in maybe a pretty slow and dull game.
South Korea vs. Iran (World Cup 2018 Qualifier) Result
South Korea 0 – 0 Iran
South Korea couldn’t find a way pass the 10men of Iran in front of around 60,000 at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. Neither side offered much going forward and the game ended 0-0. Korea are lucky that Uzbekistan lost 1-0 to China and therefore their fate is still in their own hands. They now need a win in Uzbekistan on Tuesday to secure a spot in Russia next year.
Highlights:
Finally
As always if you have anything you’d like to add please let us know. We will try and keep things updated as best as possible via Twitter (and little via Facebook).
Tim
Modern Seoul
tim@modernseoul.org
Modern Seoul 