Even the sky seems to turn its back on Hong Myung-bo's team; the race for third place in the 32nd-team tournament is pushed back again: 'Third among four teams'

*This content was translated by AI.

Is even the sky turning its back on Hong Myung-bo's team? In the race for third place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North, Central America and the Caribbean, a second team with better results than Hong Myung-bo's side has emerged. For South Korea to make a dramatic advance to the Round of 32, the results of the remaining three third-placed teams in the eight remaining groups must be worse than South Korea's.

The team that overtook South Korea in the race for third place emerged from Group E of the group stage. In the final Group E match held on the 26th at 5 a.m. (Korea time) at the stadium in Philadelphia, USA, Ecuador came from behind to defeat Germany 2-1. According to the FIFA rankings, Ecuador is 23rd and Germany is 10th. At the same time, Ivory Coast defeated Curaçao 2-0.

As a result of the final Group E match on this day, Ecuador was confirmed as the third-placed team in Group E. They have 4 points (1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss). Earlier, after losing to Ivory Coast and drawing with Curaçao, Ecuador staged a dramatic turnaround against Germany in the final match. The final standings in Group E were confirmed as Germany, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, and Curaçao. Germany and Ivory Coast will advance directly to the Round of 32.

With Ecuador, who accumulated 4 points, securing third place in Group E, South Korea, led by coach Hong Myung-bo, has already fallen behind two teams in the race for third place. South Korea's final group stage record stands at 3 points (1 win, 2 losses), a goal difference of -1, and 2 goals scored. Although they overtook Scotland, the second-placed team in Group C (3 points, goal difference -1) the previous day, they were overtaken by Bosnia and Herzegovina, the third-placed team in Group B (4 points). With Ecuador also surpassing them on this day, South Korea remained in third place in the race for third place among the four groups whose group stage matches have concluded.

As a result, South Korea will only have a dramatic chance to advance to the Round of 32 if three teams in the remaining eight groups finish the tournament with results worse than South Korea's. Unlike previous tournaments that featured a 32-team, 16-team knockout format, this tournament has been expanded to a 48-team, 32-team knockout format. Despite the shocking loss to South Africa the previous day that pushed them to third place in the group, South Korea still has possibilities to reach the Round of 32.

In the group stage, which is played across 12 groups, the top two teams from each group, totaling 24 teams, advance to the 32nd-team knockout tournament. Then, the top eight third-placed teams among the 12th groups, based on their results, fill the remaining spots. The comparison of third-place results is determined in the following order: points, goal difference, goals scored, fair play points, and FIFA ranking.

On the 26th, the final matches of Group F and Group D will be held consecutively at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. (Korea time), respectively. In Group F, the third-place result will be determined based on the outcome of the Japan-Sweden match. In Group D, if the head-to-head match between Paraguay and Australia, both currently with 3 points, results in a win or loss, a third-placed team with results worse than South Korea's could emerge. As the final matches of each group conclude sequentially and the third-place results are confirmed, South Korea's probability of advancing to the Round of 32 will fluctuate dramatically.

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*This content was translated by AI.