Hong Myung-bo's squad's 5-0 victory was "meaningless"; ESPN World Cup ranking has Korea at just 30th

*This content was translated by AI.

A global media outlet, ESPN, analyzed that the South Korean national football team's power ranking for the 2026 FIFA North American World Cup stands at only 30th out of 48 participating nations. Given that this evaluation was made after all final rosters for the tournament's participants had been announced, it is only natural that the assessment leaves much to be desired.

On the 3rd (Korean time), ESPN evaluated and released the power rankings of the 48th teams that qualified for the 2026 FIFA North American World Cup finals after all final rosters were confirmed. In this ranking, South Korea remained at 30th overall. While the team possesses the strength to reach the Round of 32, it is a ranking that makes it difficult to expect results beyond the Round of 16. For some teams, ESPN provided specific explanations for their ranking placement, but no such additional context was offered for South Korea.

Notably, South Korea was rated third in Group A. Mexico ranked highest in the group at 24th overall, followed by Czechia at 29th, South Korea at 30th, and South Africa at 46th. Particularly striking is that Czechia, ranked 41st in the FIFA rankings (16 spots below South Korea's 25th), barely qualified for the World Cup finals after a European playoff, yet South Korea was evaluated as having even less power than Czechia immediately following the announcement of the final World Cup rosters.

The recent 5-0 victory by Hong Myung-bo's squad against Trinidad and Tobago also held little meaning. Although South Korea dominated the match against Trinidad and Tobago, ranked 102nd in the FIFA rankings, from start to finish, the objective power gap was so vast that it did not significantly influence ESPN's evaluation of the South Korean national team's strength. This is also expected to hold true for the final World Cup friendly match against El Salvador, ranked 100th in the FIFA rankings, scheduled for the 4th.

In Asia, Japan ranked highest at 21st. While Japan has been vocal about its goal of "winning the World Cup," ESPN evaluated Japan as a team that cannot even be certain of reaching the Round of 16. The Asian teams were ranked as follows: Japan, South Korea, Australia (32nd), Uzbekistan (34th), Iran (35th), Jordan (40th), Iraq (42nd), Saudi Arabia (44th), and Qatar (48th).

Immediately after the power rankings of all teams that qualified for the World Cup finals were released, ESPN named France as the top-ranked team. They were followed by Spain, England, Portugal, and Germany. Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands, Norway, and Turkey also made up ESPN's predicted "Top 10" World Cup power rankings.

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*This content was translated by AI.