Following Japan and England, they found their European counterparts 'again'... 'Preparation for the World Cup' compared to South Korea

*This content was translated by AI.

It seems that the schedule for the away evaluation match in Europe in March of the Japanese national soccer team, which is preparing for the 2026 FIFA North American World Cup, has been virtually confirmed. Following the away match in England, which is ranked fourth in the FIFA rankings early on, Scotland, the team that will advance to the World Cup finals, is said to be the most likely opponent.

Japanese media Nikkan Sports reported on the 7th, "The Japanese national soccer team is known to face Scotland in the away evaluation match in Europe in March. "The game is expected to be held in Glasgow, Scotland's largest city," he said. "As a result, Japanese football will play a friendly match with two British teams in preparation for the North American World Cup in June."

The media said, "The friendly match against the England national team has already been announced on March 31 (local time). The match against Scotland is another match to be played during the March A-match starting on the 23rd, he said. "The Japanese Football Association has been pushing for a warm-up match against a European team that has reached the World Cup finals in preparation for a showdown with the European teams that will meet in the World Cup finals."

Japan was in Group F with the Netherlands and Tunisia in the North American World Cup finals, as well as the UEFA (PO) Pass B winner. The UEFA PO Pass B includes Ukraine, Poland, Albania and Sweden. In the end, Japan unconditionally meets two European teams in the group stage, and in preparation for this, the warm-up match in March also faced two European teams.

From the perspective of Japanese soccer, the away match to England, which will be held at Wembley Stadium, the 'soccer site', is a warm-up match against the Netherlands, which is seventh in the FIFA rankings. In addition, it is meaningful in itself to play an away warm-up match against a team that is attracting attention as a candidate for the championship. Scotland is 36th in the FIFA rankings, lower than Japan (18th), but it is meaningful to prepare for the UEFA PO team in that the FIFA rankings of teams in the UEFA PO Pass B are 28th to 63rd. Scotland is a team that has reached the World Cup finals for the first time in 28 years and has a formidable history with a number of players from European big leagues such as the English Premier League (EPL).

On the other hand, the South Korean national soccer team, which will be on the road to Europe during the same period, will still be compared to Japan as no team has been announced for the warm-up match in March. One of the two consecutive matches is Austria, ranked 24th in FIFA ranking (22nd in Korea), but even this was not an announcement by the Korea Football Association, but it was first known during the local interview of Austrian national team coach Ralf Rangnick.

The remaining opponent is still in mystery. European strong teams have already confirmed their schedule for two consecutive games in March or have decided to go to other continents such as North Korea, China and the U.S. For now, they may have to play a "neutral" warm-up match with other continental teams such as the African team in Europe, or, in the worst case, meet with a team that failed to qualify for the World Cup. Even if they play a warm-up match against an African team in preparation for South Africa, it is unclear whether the Korea Football Association will be able to make a matchup with a competitive opponent.

Japan has even confirmed and announced the schedule for the "World Cup Opening Ceremony" in Tokyo, Japan, on May 31, although the opponent is undecided. On the other hand, Korea has not even made public whether it will attend the ceremony in Korea. Even national team coach Hong Myung-bo said last month, "Nothing has been decided yet. He even said, "I think we need to discuss more with the Korea Football Association." It's not just about preparing for the World Cup. The Japanese Football Association has already confirmed the date and venue (domestic) of the "four consecutive games" of the A-match from September to October, which will be introduced this year.

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*This content was translated by AI.