"Anticipation of an ultra-thin race" 韓월드컵 World Cup opponent, not a Korea mark, is likely to have a Czech Republic.

*This content was translated by AI.

The Korean national soccer team's first match in the 2026 FIFA 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup has been narrowed down to Denmark or the Czech Republic. In terms of FIFA rankings and objective history, Denmark is likely to be the last team to the World Cup finals, but there is a prediction that the possibility of becoming the Czech Republic is also not small.

South Korea, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, was in the same group as Mexico, South Africa, and the winner of the UEFA playoff (PO) Pass D in the draw for the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup finals held in Washington, DC in December last year. The UEFA PO, in which the second-ranked teams in each group of European qualifiers participate, will be divided into four passes of four teams, and then the final winning team will be determined through a semifinal tournament.

Denmark, the Czech Republic, Ireland, and North Macedonia initially belonged to the UEFA PO Pass D, which is also South Korea's first match of the World Cup group stage. Denmark defeated North Macedonia 4-0 in the semifinals of the Pass D held on the 27th (Korea time), and the Czech Republic also won the penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw with Ireland and reached the final. At 4:45 a.m. on the 1st of next month, the winning team of the Czech Republic-Denmark match in Prague, Czech Republic, will head to Group A of the World Cup, which includes South Korea. It is a "single-round match" that determines the qualification for the World Cup finals.

Earlier, Denmark headed to the PO as second place in the group after Scotland in Group C of the World Cup European qualifiers. The Czech Republic is the second-ranked team in Group L in the European qualifying round behind Croatia. Denmark ranks 21st and the Czech Republic 43rd in the FIFA rankings. Denmark is also the only team in the UEFA PO Pass D with a higher FIFA ranking than Korea (22nd).

However, it is predicted that the power difference between Denmark and the Czech Republic is not as large as the FIFA ranking, which is 22 steps apart. Football Meets Data, a soccer statistics media outlet, set Denmark's probability of going to the World Cup finals at 55% after the UEFA PO and the Czech Republic's probability at 45%, respectively. It is undeniable that Denmark has the upper hand, but it means that the gap is not large. This is interpreted as reflecting the fact that the single-round match will be held at home in the Czech Republic, and Denmark has been on a downward trend overall, drawing with Belarus recently and losing to Scotland and losing to PO.

The media clearly differed from Italy (13th) to the World Cup finals at 70% and Bosnia-Herzegovina (71st), which is set to face off in the UEFA PO Pass A final. Sweden (42nd) and Poland (34th) (44th) of Pass B had 56 percent, but the gap between the two teams in FIFA rankings is not that big. Turkiye (25th) and Kosovo (79th) of Pass C, which have wide gaps in FIFA rankings, predicted a close game of 55 percent to 45 percent like Denmark-Czech Republic.

Denmark will advance to the finals for the third time in a row since the 2018 Russia competition, and the Czech Republic will try to advance to the finals for the first time in 20 years since the 2006 German competition. Korea is inferior to Denmark with one draw and one loss and the Czech Republic with one win, two draws and two losses. If Denmark heads to Group A of the World Cup, South Korea's FIFA ranking will fall to third place in Group A after Mexico (16th) and Denmark.

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*This content was translated by AI.