[an official announcement] Hong Myung-bo Team confirmed its first A match opponent in March, 'African powerhouse' Cote d'Ivoire... The first face-off in 16 years

*This content was translated by AI.

The first opponent of the South Korean national soccer team's March A match has been confirmed. It will strengthen its competitiveness in the 2026 FIFA North-China World Cup finals against "Africa's strong team" Ivory Coast.

In a press release on the 10th, the Korea Football Association confirmed and announced the opponents for the two warm-up matches that will be held in Europe during the A-match in March. The national team will meet Ivory Coast in its first match near London, England, at 11 p.m. on March 28 (Korean time), and then play its second warm-up match against Austria in Vienna, Austria, at 3:45 a.m. on April 1.

Ivory Coast, the first opponent of the warm-up match in March, is 37th in FIFA rankings, lower than South Korea (22nd), but it is a powerful team that advanced to the finals as No. 1 in Group F in the African qualifying round for the North-China World Cup. In the World Cup group stage, they will play Germany, Curaçao and Ecuador in Group E.

Ivory Coast failed to win its second consecutive tournament after losing to Egypt in the quarterfinals of the recent African Nations Cup, but it boasts a formidable record as it has a large number of key players playing in European big leagues such as Ahmad Diallo (Manchester United) and Evan Ndica (AS Roma).

According to the association, this match is a customized warm-up match for South Africa, where South Korea will meet in the third round of the North American World Cup group stage. It is expected to be the best opportunity to test the national team's ability to respond to the match against Ivory Coast, which has explosive speed and flexible physicality unique to the African team.

South Korea has one win out of all time against Ivory Coast. During the warm-up match in London in March 2010, Lee Dong-gook and Kwak Tae-hwi scored consecutive goals to complete the game 2-0. Through this match, it will be a rematch in England again for the first time in 16 years.

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

*This content was translated by AI.