"Hong Myung-bo will advance to the round of 32, but it is not easy to advance to the round of 16." Experts predict [2026 World Cup 2]

*This content was translated by AI.

• Soccer Pundits Hong Myung-bo's World Cup Prospect/"The first round of the group league needs to be caught to advance to the round of 32."/No chance of winning a single-game tournamentForeign media are third in Group A, predicting the weight of the round of 3226th in the probability of winning the competition and 34th in the dividend rate

The year of the World Cup has dawned. It is the first tournament to be held by expanding to a tournament system of 48 participants and 32 strongest teams, not a tournament of 32 participants and 16 strongest teams. Despite the controversy over the coach's appointment process and criticism of his performance, the Korean national soccer team aimed to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in its history. Star News will introduce the 2026 FIFA North American World Cup (June 11 to July 19) as a series, including a comparison of the power of Bento and Hong Myung-bo, expected performance of the Korean national team such as experts and foreign affairs, and the game of the tournament expanded to 48 countries. /Editor's note

"The best performance in the away tournament was in the round of 16. I'll try to get better than that."

Coach Hong Myung-bo (57) presented his goal of 'the quarterfinals of the North American World Cup' at a press conference for the inauguration of the Korean national soccer team in July 2024. It was a bid to make a new history in Korean football beyond the away round of 16 achieved at the 2010 South African Games and the 2022 Qatar World Cup. It was also a goal that must be achieved in order to reverse the strong criticism that has continued since its launch.

South Korea was in Group A with Mexico, South Africa, and the UEFA (PO) Pass D winners (Denmark, Czech Republic, Ireland, and North Macedonia). Unlike previous tournaments, where only the first and second places in the group were ranked in the tournament due to the expansion of the number of participating teams, the top eight teams with good performance among the third places in the 12 groups can also reach the tournament.

Experts believe that Hong Myung-bo's chances of passing the group stage are as great as the tournament's expanded gate. However, the tournament, which will be held in a single match, is agreed that victory cannot be guaranteed from the round of 32. In order to achieve Hong Myung-bo's goal of the quarterfinals, he needs to win twice in the round of 32, the round of 16, and the tournament, but even his first victory in the tournament will not be easy. At the center of it is Hong Myung-bo's tactic, which remains a "question mark" even more than five months before the World Cup.

"Korea's North American World Cup performance is up to the 32nd round," soccer commentator Park Moon-sung said in a phone call with Star News. "I don't know where I'll pass the group league, but I think I'll be in the tournament in a system where the third place in the group is given (the right to advance). First place in the group looks a little difficult, and I think one win, one draw and one loss would be the best. It could be one win and two losses," he predicted.

"If you go to the tournament as the second or third place in the group, you will be against the first or second place in another group," Park said. "I think it is difficult to go further with the current (national team) performance in the round of 32 single-round match," he said. "In fact, South Korea was in a challenger position, not a champion position in the previous World Cup finals. From the standpoint of challenging, individual players' individual abilities are important, but there are not many opponents that we can beat by weight in the World Cup finals as individual players," he said.

In order to overcome this, the head coach's tactics are important in the end. However, committee member Park Moon-sung asserted, "Expectations for director Hong Myung-bo are not so high." "If you can't beat the player's weight class, it's a tactical fight," he said, adding, "For this reason, we expect (South Korea's performance) to reach the round of 32 in the tournament."

Commentator Kim Hwan also agreed with Park, saying, "The expected performance is the round of 16 at the World Cup, but the expected performance of the Korean national team is the round of 32."

"We expect the group league to pass as second place," Kim said through Star News, but added, "The match table is unconditionally important in the tournament. If you are second in Group A, you will meet second in Group B. "You can meet Italy on the premise of passing Switzerland, Canada, or UEFA PO, but they are all not easy opponents," he said.

"We need to think deeply about what South Korea's main tactics are, what is the main formation, and whether we can win more than one game on the World Cup stage with that tactic," Kim said. "It is time for a very in-depth consideration and a clear decision on whether to play the soccer we want to play or match the opponent."

Both experts were optimistic about Korea's passing through the group stage first, but they also agreed that they could not let their guard down. Rather than being easy, it is a tricky group. As all three group games are played in Mexico, environmental factors such as high ground were also cited as variables for Hong Myung-bo to overcome.

"The overall feeling of Group A is that there is no very strong opponent, but it is a tricky group with no easy opponent," Kim Hwan said. "In the case of Mexico, the record is also inferior (4 wins, 3 draws and 8 losses), and South Korea lost all the matches in the World Cup finals (two losses). Mexico is said to have lost performance recently, but our national team is not actually good either. Considering many things, it doesn't seem easy to outdo Mexico. It will be held in the highlands of Gyeonggi-do Province, and the difference between players born and raised in the highlands and our players' adaptation for a few weeks will be clear.

Park Moon-sung, a member of the committee, also said, "If we express Article A in one word, it is 'a group of subtle deaths'. "This is because the gap between teams may not be surprisingly large," he said. "Since the group league is held in Mexico, environmental factors such as heat, humidity, and highlands can be variables. The fact that there are many such variables means that even the weakest team in the group is likely to produce a turnaround. If used well, South Africa, which is considered the weakest team, could have an accident.

"In fact, I think Hong Myung-bo's tactical plan or player selection is almost over. There is no additional surprise player selection, and there is too little time physically even though there is a sudden change in tactics, he said. "If there is no change in players and tactics, there are two major things that are important. One is that players' condition and injury management are important, and the second is that we should focus on making some pattern plays that we can use in the finals, not complicated ones."

Experts also voiced the same opinion that in order to pass the group stage, which is the first gateway, it is necessary to catch the first group stage match against the winner of the UEFA PO Pass D.

Commentator Park Moon-sung said, "We have to catch the first game (against the winner of the UEFA PO Pass D). It is important to win three points from the beginning as it is a competition that is likely to reach the round of 32 as the third place in the group with just one win. "The importance of the first game is even greater because the second game is against Mexico, which is the most difficult, and if we don't produce results until the second game, the third game against South Africa will be very burdensome," he said.

Kim Hwan also said, "If you lose the first game, you could be in big trouble because the second game is against Mexico. Until now, it has been a watershed moment in passing the group stage in the previous World Cup (Korea's) whether to win points or not in the first round," he said. "The problem is that we don't know the opponent in the first round yet until April 1 (when the UEFA PO ends). Denmark is the most likely, but it is by no means an easy opponent. "I have to win my first game, but the pressure will be quite high," he added.

Foreign media are optimistic about the Korean national team's advance to the round of 32. However, the prevailing expectation is that the process will not be smooth. Most foreign media are putting more weight on the prospect that South Korea will barely reach the tournament by comparing its performance with third place in other groups after falling into third place in Group A. ESPN is actually the only prediction that it will go straight to the round of 32 in the top 2 group. Analysts say it is difficult to say that South Korea is definitely ahead of Mexico or Denmark amid the prospect that Group A itself will be a very fierce structure.

U.S. media NBC Sports analyzed the situation of Group A immediately after the draw for the World Cup finals, predicting that Mexico, the winner of the UEFA PO, and South Korea will rank first to third in the group. South Korea is expected to fall to third place in the group, but will advance to the round of 32 through performance comparison with other third-place teams. British Give Me Sports and soccer statistics media Football Meets Data also evaluated South Korea as the third in Group A, but predicted that it will advance to the round of 32 thanks to the expanded tournament gate.

Football statistics media Opta gave Mexico 77.2 points and South Korea 74.6 points in its own power ranking score. Denmark, which is likely to pass the UEFA PO, scored 78.9 points, which is more powerful than Mexico and South Korea. "All teams in Group A are highly likely to advance to the tournament," Opta said, adding, "It is the most unpredictable group."

In addition, U.S. media outlet Double Raising Musketeers said, "Group A (to which South Korea belongs) may draw in four to five out of six games. There is a possibility that it will flow strangely," he predicted. It is in line with the evaluation of domestic experts as "a group of subtle deaths" or "a group of difficulties."

UEFA POs or intercontinental POs have not yet been made, and the number of tournament matches has increased as the 32nd round system has become so large that few foreign media have predicted the tournament's performance. Instead, in the end, the probability of winning the World Cup, where tournament performance is important, or the dividend rate of gamblers' winning can be an indicator of Korea's tournament performance.

Opta predicted a 0.3 percent chance for Korea to win the championship. It is tied for 26th among all participating countries. According to Squaka, Korea's dividend rate for winning the North American World Cup was 501 times, which is the 34th overall. Even if Hong Myung-bo goes to the round of 32, the advance to the round of 16 is not much different from the analysis of domestic experts who predict negatively.

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*This content was translated by AI.