Hong Myung-bo-ho, the remaining opponents in the March warm-up match are Cote d'Ivoire ranked 37th in FIFA rankings? local media coverage

*This content was translated by AI.

While the opponent of the South Korean national soccer team's March A-match warm-up match has not yet been confirmed, local reports first came out that South Korea will play the warm-up match against Ivory Coast.

Ivory Coast media outlet LifeMacCI said on the 18th (Korea time) that the Ivory Coast national soccer team will play two consecutive games against South Korea and Scotland in Europe during the warm-up match in March in preparation for the 2026 FIFA North American World Cup.

The media said, "The Ivory Coast national team is scheduled to play a warm-up match against South Korea and Scotland," adding, "There is a possibility that it will meet South Korea in London on the 31st, four days after the warm-up match against Scotland in Liverpool, England on March 27th."

"South Korea is a difficult team to deal with," he said. "For the Ivory Coast national team, there is a memory that should be erased when they were completely defeated 0-2 in London in 2010. However, now that time has passed, the situation has changed. The goal of the match against Korea is clear. It shows that Ivory Coast has grown," he added.

As of the 20th, Ivory Coast is ranked 37th in the FIFA rankings, the sixth highest in Africa. In the recently concluded 2025 African Football Confederation (CAF) Africa Cup of Nations, they were eliminated from the quarterfinals after losing to Egypt. In the North American World Cup finals, they were in Group E, along with Germany, Quiraso and Ecuador. It has been 12 years since the 2014 Brazil World Cup. At one point, they made the World Cup finals for three consecutive times, from the 2006 German Games to the 2010 South African Games and the 2014 Brazil Games, but all of them were eliminated from the group stage.

If a warm-up match is held with Ivory Coast, it will be the first time in 16 years since 2010. As the media reported, a warm-up match between South Korea and Ivory Coast was held in London in 2010, when South Korea won 2-0 with consecutive goals by Lee Dong-guk and Kwak Tae-hwi. At that time, the warm-up match was the first and last face-off between South Korea and Ivory Coast.

However, it remains to be seen whether Korea and Ivory Coast will actually hold a warm-up match. Local media expected Ivory Coast to play warm-up matches with Scotland on the 27th and South Korea on the 31st, respectively, but Scotland's warm-up matches with Japan have already been announced on the 28th. According to Austrian media reports, a warm-up match between South Korea and Austria is also scheduled for the end of March. If the warm-up match takes place, the warm-up match between South Korea and Ivory Coast will be held first on the 27th, contrary to local reports.

The fact that Ivory Coast will not meet the Asian team in the World Cup finals can also serve as a variable for whether or not the actual warm-up match will be held. If it gives meaning to the aspect of putting the competitiveness against the World Cup to the test regardless of the opponent of the World Cup finals, South Korea, which has a higher FIFA ranking for the Ivory Coast national team, may be suitable for a warm-up match.

Hong Myung-bo will go on an expedition to Europe for the first time in two and a half years in March, but the schedule of European strong teams has been confirmed first or has not been able to find a suitable match for the warm-up match on the road to other continents. With the FIFA ranking lower than South Korea's Austria (24th) and Austria's national team coach Ralf Rangnick's interview first revealed, another opponent is likely to play a neutral match against an African team with a lower FIFA ranking. Japan, on the other hand, has confirmed its two consecutive away European warm-up matches with England, ranked fourth in the FIFA rankings, and Scotland, ranked 38th, during the same period.

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*This content was translated by AI.