"It's definitely different from South Korea." Japan confirms England-Scotland warm-up match... We're preparing for the World Cup

*This content was translated by AI.

Fate rivals South Korea and Japan are mixed during the A-match in March ahead of the 2026 FIFA North-China World Cup. Japan has confirmed two consecutive games against European powerhouses, followed by England and Scotland, while South Korea has not been able to find an opponent for the remaining one game other than the match against Austria.

Japanese media "Sacker Digest" and others reported on the 19th, "The Japanese Football Association (JFA) officially announced that it will face the Scottish national team during the March A match."

According to reports, Japan will clash with Scotland at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland, on March 28. Japan, which has already confirmed England as its first A match opponent in March, will confirm both partners in the two consecutive away matches in Europe.

"I'm very happy to play a match between the national teams in Scotland, where many Japanese players are currently active," said Harjime Moriyasu, head coach of the Japanese national team. "Getting against a physically excellent strong team in preparation for the World Cup finals is the best opponent for raising the team's power." I will not be swayed by the atmosphere of the passionate Scottish crowd and bring victory to Japan as one," he said.

Japan is in Group F along with the winners of Group B of the Netherlands, Tunisia, and European Playoffs (PO). At a time when confrontation with European teams is essential, we have secured quality sparring partners and continue our steady preparations.

On the other hand, the Korean national soccer team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, is still holding up a half-schedule.

According to Austrian local media such as "Courrie" and "Kicker," the warm-up match between Korea and Austria will be held at Ernst Havel Stadion in Vienna early on April 1.

The confrontation with Austria has become a fait accompli, with Austrian coach Ralf Rangnick referring directly to South Korea in an interview. Austria ranks 24th in the FIFA rankings, similar to Korea (22nd). He ranked No. 1 in Group H in the European qualifiers for this World Cup and won the ticket to the finals for the first time in 28 years since 1998.

As a result, Hong Myung-bo will go on an away trip to Europe for the first time in about two and a half years since his trip to Wales in September 2023 under former coach Jurgen Klinsmann. The match against Austria is a mock test in preparation for the winner of the European PO Pass D (Denmark, Czech Republic, Ireland, and North Macedonia), which will be in the same group in the World Cup finals.

The problem is one remaining game. Unlike Japan, which is in succession with European strong teams, Korea has not been able to find a suitable opponent other than Austria. Ahead of the World Cup, most European strong teams have already confirmed their warm-up schedule or have left for other continents such as North Korea, China and the U.S., making it difficult to achieve a matchup.

Austria also has the highest FIFA ranking among the remaining teams in Europe in March. If you find another European team, you will likely have to play against a team that is lower than Austria.

For now, a neutral warm-up match with an African team is considered a likely alternative in preparation for South Africa in the same group as the World Cup. This is because many African teams have not yet confirmed their matchups in March due to the schedule of the Africa Cup of Nations, and many teams are moving to Europe.

In fact, Austria played a warm-up match against Ghana before the match against Korea, and Scotland, which was confirmed as Japan's opponent, is also known to be likely to play against Ivory Coast in addition to the match against Japan.

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*This content was translated by AI.