[Official] Hong Myung-bo's team to face El Salvador, ranked 100th in FIFA rankings, in a friendly match on the 4th of next month in the United States

*This content was translated by AI.

The South Korean national football team, set to compete in the 2026 FIFA North, Central America and Caribbean World Cup, will play a friendly match against El Salvador on the 4th of next month (Korean time).

The El Salvador Football Federation officially announced on the 5th (Korean time) that it will hold an A-match friendly against South Korea at America First Field in Sandy, Utah, USA, on the 4th of next month. An official announcement from the Korea Football Association is also expected soon.

Under the leadership of coach Hong Myung-bo, South Korea will play its first Group A match of the tournament against the Czech Republic at 11 a.m. on the 12th of next month. The match against El Salvador is expected to be the final friendly before the World Cup. Based on local time, Hong Myung-bo's team is scheduled to move to Guadalajara, Mexico, the "decisive battle ground," two days after the match, on the 5th.

El Salvador is ranked 100th in the FIFA rankings, a gap of 75 positions from South Korea (25th). In the current World Cup North, Central America and Caribbean qualifiers, they finished last in Group A with one win and five losses. Their last appearance at a World Cup finals tournament was in the 1982 Spain tournament.

In their head-to-head record against South Korea, the two teams have played once with one draw. They faced each other in a friendly match at Daejeon World Cup Stadium in June 2023 under the leadership of German coach Jurgen Klinsmann, conceding an equalizer in the late second half and ending in a 1-1 draw.

Coach Hong Myung-bo will announce the final 26-man roster for the World Cup on the 16th at Gwanghwamun, Jongno-gu, Seoul. To accommodate the World Cup schedule and acclimatization to high altitude, the team will depart for the United States, the pre-camp location, on the 18th, two days later, without a domestic departure ceremony. Overseas-based players will join the team locally according to their club schedules.

Two friendly matches are scheduled to be held in the United States. With the match against El Salvador confirmed as the final friendly before the World Cup prior to the move to the decisive battle ground in Mexico, it is expected that another friendly will be played in Salt Lake City, USA, before that.

South Korea's World Cup schedule begins with the match against the Czech Republic on the 12th of next month, followed by a match against host nation Mexico at 10 a.m. on the 19th, and a match against South Africa at 10 a.m. on the 25th. In this tournament featuring 48 teams, the top two teams from each group will advance to the Round of 32, and the top eight teams among the third-placed teams from the 12th groups, based on their performance, will also qualify for the Round of 32.

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*This content was translated by AI.