*This content was translated by AI.
A bitter evaluation said that the current strength of the South Korean national soccer team is not even in the top 20 among the teams competing in the 2026 FIFA 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup finals.
According to the top 20 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup power rankings recently announced by U.S. media Sports Illustrated (SI), South Korea, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, did not rank in the rankings.
As of January, South Korea ranked 20th in FIFA rankings among the teams that confirmed their advancement to the World Cup finals, but it was pushed out of the 20th place in the SI power evaluation based on World Cup qualification performance and current power.
With South Korea missing, Japan ranked 17th and became the only top 20 player in Asia. "Japan has won 13 of the last 16 qualifying matches and allowed only one loss," SI said. "I scored 54 goals and lost only three goals," he said. "Expectations for advancing to the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time in history are growing."
Ivory Coast, the opponent of the Hong Myung-bo Team warm-up match to be held in Milton Keynes, England, was also ranked 19th at 11 p.m. on the 28th (Korea time). Ivory Coast ranked 37th in the FIFA rankings, 15 places lower than South Korea (22nd), but SI evaluated that Ivory Coast's power was higher than that of South Korea.
"Côte d'Ivoire has returned to the World Cup finals with eight wins and no points in all 10 African qualifiers," SI said. "Young stars such as Usman Diomande (Sporting CP), Odilon Kosunu (Atalanta), and Gela Doue (Strasbourg) have built a strong barrier that is difficult to penetrate. "On the front line, Jan Diomande (Leifich) has emerged as a key striker in the team that can turn the game around."
Teams in Group A of the World Cup finals, including Mexico and South Africa, as well as South Korea, did not make the top 20, ranking first to fifth in the order of Spain, Argentina, England, France and Portugal. Norway, the Netherlands, Morocco, Germany and Brazil filled the remaining spots in the top 10.
Next, Senegal, Croatia, Colombia, the United States, Ecuador, Belgium, Japan, Switzerland, Ivory Coast, and Uruguay ranked 11th to 20th in the power rankings. Norway (32nd in FIFA rankings), Ecuador (23rd) and Ivory Coast (37th) ranked in the top 20 in the SI rankings despite being lower than Korea's FIFA rankings.
Meanwhile, Hong Myung-bo Team, which is in convocation training in Milton Keynes, England, will play a warm-up match against Ivory Coast on the 28th and then move to Austria and play an away warm-up match against Austria at 3:45 a.m. on the 1st of next month. Austria is ranked 24th in the FIFA rankings, two places lower than South Korea, and is also missing from the top 20 in the SI rankings.
<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>
*This content was translated by AI.
