The first opponent of the Korean World Cup will finally be decided, and Hong Myung-bo Team will also "examine its power" in the region.

*This content was translated by AI.

The opponent of the Korean national soccer team's first group match of the 2026 FIFA 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup will finally be decided. Hong Myung-bo Team will also send its coaches to the site where the UEFA Playoff (PO) will be held to analyze the power of the team that will be the first opponent.

South Korea, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, was in the same group as the winner of the 2026 FIFA 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup finals in Washington, DC, USA, and the UEFA PO Pass D (Denmark, Czech Republic, Ireland, North Macedonia) in December last year. The UEFA PO Pass D, in which four teams compete, will be held during the A-match period in March. South Korea's opponent in the first round of the World Cup, which has been hidden, will finally be confirmed.

A total of 16 teams will participate in the UEFA PO, which will be played between the teams ranked second in each group in the European qualifiers in 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup, and will be divided into four passes. Through the semifinal tournament by pass, the team that wins the final round will qualify for the World Cup finals. UEFA PO pass A included Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina, pass B included Ukraine, Sweden, Poland, Albania, and pass C included Turkiye, Romania, Slovakia, and Kosovo. All matches are played in a single round.

UEFA PO Pass D, which belongs to the same group as Korea, will be held at 4:45 a.m. on the 27th (Korea time) in Copenhagen, Denmark, with Denmark-North Macedonia and Czech Republic-Ireland in Prague, Czech Republic at the same time. The team that wins the two games will compete in Prague, the Czech Republic, or Dublin, Ireland, at 4:45 a.m. on the 1st of next month for the long-awaited "World Cup qualification."

Denmark is ranked 21st, the Czech Republic 43rd, and Ireland and North Macedonia are ranked 59th and 66th, respectively, in the real-time FIFA rankings as of the 24th. Denmark is the only team ranked higher than Korea (22nd), but the ranking is only one step apart from Korea. Denmark is likely to advance to the finals in terms of objective power, but there are so many variables as it is played out in a single round.

Since the most important first match opponent in the group stage was hidden, Hong Myung-bo Team, which was not easy to analyze its power itself, will also begin to analyze its opponent's power in the first round in earnest. According to the Korea Football Association, national team coaches and power analysts will be dispatched to the site where the UEFA PO will be held. As it just happened that it took him to advance to the World Cup finals, the opponent is a "most qualified" game, so it can be a more meaningful analysis of power.

Meanwhile, Hong Myung-bo Team has been called up to Miltonkins, northwest of London, England, and is preparing for an exhibition match for the national team in March. With all European teams joining from the region, they will clash with Ivory Coast at 11 p.m. on the 28th and Austria at 3:45 a.m. on the 1st of next month.

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*This content was translated by AI.