'No Hong Myung-bo' U.S. Yahoo Sports predicts Czech Republic to top Group A, Mexico second in World Cup

*This content was translated by AI.

Foreign media outlets are increasingly predicting that the South Korean national football team will fail to finish in the top two of Group A in the 2026 FIFA North American World Cup group stage.

On the 26th (Korean time), U.S. Yahoo Sports, in its preview article for the 12th groups (Groups A through L) of the World Cup final tournament, singled out the Czech Republic as the top team in Group A and Mexico as the second.

Yahoo Sports predicted, "Although Mexico is considered a top candidate, it has many injured players, leaving opportunities open for South Korea or the Czech Republic. South Africa is likely to remain at the bottom."

It added, "The Czech Republic has Patrick Schick (Bayer Leverkusen), a proven striker who shared the top scorer title with five goals at the 2020 UEFA European Championship (Euro 2020), and the harmony between veterans and young players behind him is excellent."

It further noted, "Although the Czech Republic has not qualified for the World Cup final tournament since the 2006 Germany World Cup, it has participated in the European Championship for eight consecutive years, so it has ample major tournament experience. While we cannot rule out South Korea's chances of advancing, the Czech Republic is expected to finish first, overtaking second-place Mexico."

In this World Cup, where the number of teams qualifying for the final tournament has expanded to 48, not only the top two teams from each group but also the top eight teams among the 12 third-place finishers based on their records will advance to the round of 32.

The fact that the media repeatedly mentioned South Korea suggests that the gap in strength between South Korea, the Czech Republic, and Mexico is not large, and a fierce battle for the standings is expected.

However, Yahoo Sports placed more weight on the possibility that South Korea will not advance directly to the round of 32 by finishing in the top two of the group, but rather will finish third in the group and then compare its record with third-place teams from other groups to determine its advancement.

Under the leadership of coach Hong Myung-bo, South Korea ranks 25th in the FIFA rankings, second only to Mexico (15th) in Group A. This is a somewhat disappointing outlook, as it is 16 spots ahead of the Czech Republic (41st), which Yahoo Sports predicted would finish first in the group.

Moreover, despite the Czech Republic failing to qualify through the North American World Cup European qualifiers and only narrowly reaching the final tournament after defeating Ireland and Denmark in penalty shootouts via the play-offs, it received a higher evaluation than South Korea.

This prediction is not limited to Yahoo Sports. Another U.S. media outlet, NBC Sports, also predicted on the same day that Mexico and the Czech Republic would finish first and second in Group A, respectively, with South Korea following in third place.

Although the rankings for the Czech Republic and Mexico were swapped compared to Yahoo Sports' prediction, both outlets agreed that South Korea would not finish in the top two of the group, which would allow it to advance to the round of 32.

NBC Sports, however, predicted that although South Korea would finish third in the group, it would succeed in advancing to the round of 32 by finishing among the top eight teams when compared with third-place teams from other groups.

NBC Sports predicted that teams that would be eliminated despite finishing third in their groups were Iran in Group G, Algeria in Group J, Uzbekistan in Group K, and Panama in Group L.

Meanwhile, the Hong Myung-bo squad, currently undergoing altitude adaptation training in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S., is scheduled to play two friendly matches: against Trinidad and Tobago at 10 a.m. on the 31st, and against El Salvador at 10 a.m. next month.

Afterward, the team will move to the "decisive ground," Mexico, to play the Group A matches of the North American World Cup group stage in order: against the Czech Republic at 11 a.m. on the 12th of next month, against Mexico at 10 a.m. on the 19th, and against South Africa at 10 a.m. on the 25th.

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*This content was translated by AI.