"The first opponent for the Korean World Cup will be confirmed."' Denmark-Czech PO 'A single-round match of fate'

*This content was translated by AI.

The first opponent in Group A of the 2026 FIFA 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup group stage of the Korean national soccer team will finally be confirmed.

Denmark and the Czech Republic will play a single game in the UEFA World Cup Pass D Final at 3:45 a.m. (Korea Standard Time) on the 1st of next month at Stadion Retna in Prague, Czech Republic.

The winning team will qualify for the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup finals and will be in Group A of the World Cup along with South Korea, Mexico and South Africa. They will face South Korea in the first round of the group league. On the other hand, the losing team will have no chance of advancing to the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup. It's simply a single game of fate.

Denmark, ranked 21st in the FIFA rankings as of January, was second in the group after falling behind Scotland in Group C of the European qualifiers for the last World Cup. The Czech Republic, ranked 43rd, qualified for the UEFA PO as second in Group L of the European qualifiers after Croatia. Earlier, in the semi-finals of the PO Pass D, Denmark beat North Macedonia 4-0 and the Czech Republic beat Ireland after a close shootout and headed to the final.

As the FIFA ranking gap tells us, Denmark has the upper hand in objective power. Starting with Christian Eriksen (Wolfsburg), Son Heung-min (LAFC's) offensive partner during his time at Tottenham, there are many players playing in European big leagues such as Rasmus Hoylun (Napoli), Pierre-Emile Hoibier (Marsayou), and Christian Neurgor (Asnal).

The Czech Republic also has some European big leaguers, including Patric Sikh (Leverkusen), Tomasz Soucek (West Ham), and Radislav Krejic (Wolverhampton), but most of them are made up of Czech national league players. Although it was shaken at the end of the European qualifying round, Denmark won the semifinal against North Macedonia by four goals, while the Czech Republic reached the final after sweating, and the atmosphere is mixed.

Foreign media's eyes are also weighing on the possibility that Denmark, which is ahead of the objective power, will beat the Czech Republic to reach the World Cup finals. ESPN said, "Denmark is considered the overwhelming favorite in the final. There is also no power instability. The key is whether they can handle the pressure of advancing to the World Cup, he said, but predicted Denmark's victory, saying, "The great victory against North Macedonia has already proved their strength." Soccer statistics media Football Ranking also predicted Denmark's probability of winning at 62%, and the Czech Republic at 38%.

If Denmark heads to Group A, where South Korea belongs, without any unexpected incident, South Korea (22nd) will be the third in Group A FIFA rankings after Mexico (16th) and Denmark (21st). South Africa is at the bottom of the list at 60th. In previous records, Korea is inferior to Denmark with one draw and one loss and one win, two draws and two losses to the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile, in addition to the Denmark-Czech Pass D Final, the UEFA PO will also have Bosnia-Herzegovina-Italy (pass A), Sweden-Poland (pass B), and Kosovo-Turkiye (pass C) to determine the teams that will advance to the World Cup finals. Among them, the winner of the Sweden-Poland match belongs to Group F, which includes Japan, the Netherlands and Tunisia. Intercontinental PO passes 1 and 2 between the Democratic Republic of the Congo-Jamaica, Iraq-Bolivia will also be held on the same day.

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*This content was translated by AI.