China-Spain will be held following Japan-England, but warm-up matches are possible just before the World Cup

*This content was translated by AI.

The Chinese national soccer team, which failed to advance to the 2026 FIFA North American World Cup finals, may play an A-match warm-up match against Spain, the top FIFA ranking and leading candidate for World Cup championship, according to local reports in Spain.

Spanish media Marca said on the 11th (Korea time), "The Spanish national soccer team will convene after the UEFA Champions League final at the end of May and then play a warm-up match against a low-level team in Riasor (Acoruña, Spain) on June 4," adding, "After the game, they will move to Puebla, Mexico, and have a final warm-up match against Chile at the Estadio Cuautemok on the 8th." It will be the last rehearsal before North American World Cup," he said.

China is the "low-level" opponent mentioned as the match for the Spanish national team's World Cup appearance in their own country. The media added, "We are in talks with the Chinese Football Association over the opponent for the June 4 warm-up match." China's FIFA ranking is 93rd, a whopping 92 spots apart from Spain.

Spain belongs to Group H of the North American World Cup finals and will face Cabo Verde, Saudi Arabia, and Uruguay in turn. Although the style is different, the match against China means preparing for the match against Saudi Arabia, a member of the same Asian Football Confederation (AFC). There is also an aspect of controlling the players' condition through actual warm-up matches against teams that are less burdened. This is why they searched for the lower-ranked team just before the World Cup against the warm-up match.

If the A-match warm-up match between China and Spain takes place, it will be the third time in 14 years since 2012 and the third time ever. Spain leads the all-time record with two wins out of two. Spain won 3-0 in their first showdown in Salamanca, Spain in 2005, and Spain won 1-0 in a friendly match in Seville in 2012.

Of course, it should be taken into account that Spain selected China after looking for a "low-level" team to play against a warm-up match, but it is enviable for South Korea that it will play a warm-up match with a world-class strong team. Moreover, not only China but also Japan took the opportunity to compete with another World Cup favorite by going on the road to Wembley with England, ranked fourth in the FIFA rankings, during the A-match warm-up match in March.

On the other hand, South Korea (22nd in FIFA rankings), led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, will go on an away trip to Europe in March, but it was difficult to find an opponent for the warm-up match because the European strong teams were confirmed early or went on an away trip to another continent. In the end, he will play a "neutral warm-up match" in Europe with Ivory Coast (37th) during the A-match period in March and then go on an away match with Austria (24th). Both teams have lower FIFA rankings than Korea. Furthermore, it is undecided whether the team will play one or two pre-World Cup warm-up matches as well as the opponent in May-June, just before the World Cup.

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*This content was translated by AI.