"Do different things from the World Cup base camp." Hong Myung-bo submits 1st and 2nd priority to FIFA "first priority for adaptation to highlands."

*This content was translated by AI.

Hong Myung-bo has selected two camps in Guadalajara, Mexico, to adapt to the highlands.

The Korea Football Association said on the 10th, "We have completed the application for a candidate site for the base camp to be used by the Korean national soccer team during the 2026 North American World Cup."

FIFA has delivered more than 70 candidate sites for base camps in North and Central America to countries that advance to the finals. After discussions, the Korean national soccer team selected two locations in Guadalajara, Mexico, as candidates for the base camp and submitted them to FIFA.

Information on the specific location and subordinate candidate sites of the applied base camp is private. The Korea Football Association will announce the location of the base camp when FIFA officially confirms it.

In the North American World Cup, South Korea was in Group A with Mexico, South Africa, and the European qualifying pass D winners (one of the Czech Republic, Ireland, Denmark, and North Macedonia).

South Korea will play all three group games in Mexico. In particular, the first and second rounds against Mexico, the winner of the European qualifying pass D, will be played in Guadalajara, a highland of 1,571 meters above sea level.

Accordingly, the Korean national soccer team held several meetings based on the opinions of domestic and foreign athletic physiology and high-altitude training experts and the Korea Football Association's medical subcommittee. After discussion, the decision was made to overstate the base camp candidate site by combining the opinion that a certain period of pre-adaptation to the highland environment is necessary.

The principle of priority for allocating base camps announced by FIFA is △ teams with high draw ports △ teams with high number of games in the city △ teams with low air travel between base camps and game venues △ teams with high FIFA rankings.

FIFA will determine each country's base camp based on this principle of priority and notify each soccer association on the 16th (local time).

Coach Hong Myung-bo said, "As the highlands are a somewhat unfamiliar environment for our players, we need a careful approach, so we listened to the opinions of experts in each field and conducted in-depth internal discussions."

"When the base camp is finalized, we plan to make a decision after carefully reviewing when to start adapting to the highlands and how to prepare for the hot and humid environment in Monterrey, where the third round of the group stage will be held," he explained.

Meanwhile, Hong Myung-bo is also considering the location of the pre-base camp where he will conduct training before entering the Mexican base camp. After the final meeting of the coaching staff, the departure schedule and the final base camp entry schedule will be confirmed.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.