Iraq loses to Palestinians in shock...South Korea crosses World Cup finals 9th divisional line
Iraq loses to Palestinians in shock...South Korea crosses World Cup finals 9th divisional line
Blog Article
Iraq suffered a shocking upset loss to the Palestinians. As a result, the Korean men's soccer team led by Coach Hong Myung-bo is one step closer to advancing to the World Cup finals.
Iraq suffered a 1-2 come-from-behind defeat against Palestine in the eighth Group B match of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA North-China World Cup at Amman International Stadium in Jordan on the 26th (Korea time).
As a result, Iraq ranked third in the group with three wins, three draws and two losses (12 points).
Korea (16 points), which leads the group with four wins and four draws, continued to have a four-point difference.
Iraq broke the balance of the match with Aymen Hussein's first goal in the 34th minute of the first half.
Iraq's new victory, which led well until the end of the second half, seemed to end the game, but the Palestinians reversed the trend just before the end of the game.
Wessam Abu Ali scored the equalizer in the 43rd minute of the second half, followed by Amid Mahajna's dramatic come-from-behind winning goal in the 52nd minute of the second half.
With this victory, the Palestinians made history with their first victory in the third round of the World Cup qualifying round.
On the other hand, it is a regrettable result for Korea.
South Korea held a 1-1 draw against Oman on the 20th in the seventh preliminary match, failing to confirm its early advancement on its own.
If they had won the match against Jordan on the 25th, they could have decided to go to North Korea, China, and the U.S. early in the March A match thanks to the results of the match against Palestine and Iraq.
However, the match against Jordan also ended in a 1-1 draw.
Fortunately, they have gained an advantageous position to confirm the World Cup finals even if they draw in the ninth game against Iraq, which will be held away on June 5.
Meanwhile, in the other Group B match, fourth-place Oman defeated Kuwait 1-0.
In Group A, Iran secured a 2-2 draw with Uzbekistan to qualify for the World Cup.
Iran is the second Asian country to go to North, Central and South America after Japan, which ranks first in Group C.
It is the third in the world after New Zealand (Oceania).
Iran had six wins and two draws (20 points) due to the draw, widening its gap with the third-ranked United Arab Emirates to seven points. Regardless of the remaining schedule, Iran has secured at least second place and is heading for the World Cup.
The UAE, led by former South Korean coach Paulo Bento (Portugal), continued to take third place with 13 points, beating the lowest North Korea (two points) by 2-1.
North Korea (score 2), which is eight points behind Qatar (10 points), which is ranked fourth in the group due to the loss, has been confirmed to be eliminated.
A total of 8.5 tickets were allocated to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member countries in this tournament. 스포츠토토
In the third qualifying round, the first and second-place teams in each group will have the right to go straight to the finals.
The third to fourth places in the group will try again to advance to the finals through the fourth qualifying round.