Korea starts journey to 2026 World Cup against Singapore

Korean national men's football team players train at Mokdong Sports Complex in Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap

The road to the 2026 World Cup starts in Seoul this Thursday as South Korea hosts Singapore in the opening game of the second round of qualification. On paper, this will be as easy as it gets for Jurgen Klinsmann, a home game against a team ranked 155 in the world, 131 places below. Not winning is not an option. This, therefore, will be important in order to set the right tone for the rest of the campaign.

First things first, Singapore arrives at the World Cup Stadium after defeating Guam in the opening round. There have been times when the Lions were the top dogs in Southeast Asia – and its leading club Lion City Sailors defeated Jeonbuk Motors in the Asian Champions League just last week – but the glory days have gone and neighbors such as Vietnam and Thailand have moved far ahead.

There are still dreams that Singapore will recapture its former status but finishing above fourth and last in a group that contains China and Thailand would be a big surprise. Only the top two will progress to the final round where 18 teams will be divided into three groups of six with eight of those going to the World Cup in 2026.

“Our opponents ... are of a higher level than us and we will need to fight together as a team more than ever before if we are to get a positive result against them," Singapore's Japanese coach Takayuki Nishigaya said when naming his squad last week. "However, we must play without fear regardless of the opponent that stands before us."

Korea, which has won its last three games against Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Vietnam after a poor start under Klinsmann, should be much too strong for this team, which it last lost to way back in 1968. The German’s squad is a familiar one with in-form stars such as Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan being named — both of whom are in the top 10 of goalscorers in the English Premier League and who just faced each other at the weekend with Hwang’s Wolverhampton Wanderers coming out on top (2-1)— and are expected to lead the attack. Then there is Lee Kang-in who is starting to show what he can do for Paris Saint-Germain this season and then Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich.

The focus will be to not do anything stupid and not collect any injuries for the first big test of the campaign which will come five days later. South Korea has an excellent record against China but lost there in qualification for 2018 and the trip to Shenzhen will be a tricky one.

With Asia’s allocation at the World Cup doubling from four to eight, China, which has not appeared since its debut appearance back in 2002, has a chance. Whatever happens, any kind of result against Korea and its European stars would be celebrated and the atmosphere is going to be hostile. Korea has the experience to come through the test but needs to be wary. There are still doubts over the tactical ability of Klinsmann that have not been put to bed after three wins against lower-ranked opponents. An early setback would certainly put the pressure on.

Only three points will do against Singapore and no injuries or suspensions will also be welcome ahead of a tougher trip to China.