Korea and Iran in Penultimate Qualifier

Korea and Iran to face each other

in the Penultimate Qualifier

Korea and Iran

On Thursday, Korea and  Iran in the penultimate qualifier will face each other for the 2022 Qatar World Cup at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul, as the Taeguk Warriors attempt to beat their long-time rivals and take first place in Group A. With both Korea and Iran already guaranteed a place in the Qatar World Cup, the only thing on the line in Thursday’s match is pride. In the third round of Asian qualifying, Iran presently leads Group A with 20 points, followed by Korea. The UAE is nine points behind the leaders.

The top two teams of Korea and Iran in the penultimate qualifier will qualify for the World Cup, while the third-place team will compete in a fourth-round playoff for the final spot. Lebanon, with six points, and Iraq, with five, might yet push the UAE for third place, with Syria the only country that is currently ruled out of Qatar.

History of Rivalry

Korea and Iran have a long history of rivalry and are two of Asia’s most powerful national football teams. Iran is the best team in Asia, ranking 21st in the world, followed by Japan at 23rd and Korea at 29th. The rivalry between Korea and Iran is one of the oldest in Asian football, with the two countries emerging as two of the continent’s top contenders in the 1970s. Since their first meeting in the 1958 Asian Games, where Korea triumphed 5-0, they’ve played 32 games against each other.

Korea enjoyed a significant advantage in the early days of the competition, but this began to shift in the twenty-first century. Since 2006, Korea has only defeated Iran once, 1-0 at the Asian Cup in 2011, with Iran winning six times. Iran won four straight games after winning the Asian Cup in 2011 before Korea got their stride in 2017 and drew the last three times they met.

Korea’s Son Heung-min scored the opening goal in the 48th minute, and Iran’s Alireza Jahanbakhsh equalized in the 76th minute in the first leg of the third round qualifiers.

Rare Occasion

That first game against Iran was one of the rare occasions the Taeguk Warriors were close to full strength, with none of the injuries that had plagued the team during the previous year. Son of Tottenham Hotspur, Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Hwang Ui-jo of Bordeaux, Hwang In-beam of Rubin Kazan, Lee Jae-sung of Mainz, and Kim Min-Jae of Fenerbahce all began, with just Kwon Chang-hoon absent from the recent regulars.

The lineup on Thursday appears to be nearly identical. Although Hwang In-beam is out due to injury, the rest of the international players have been cleared to report for duty. Things are a little dicier farther down the lineup, however. After testing positive for Covid-19, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors’ Paik Seung-ho and Kim Jin-kyu, SC Freiburg’s Jeong Woo-Yeong, and FC Seoul’s Na Sang-ho have all been ruled out of the team.

Ulsan Hyundai’s Won Du-Jae, Al-Nam Duhail’s Tae-hee, FC Seoul’s Cho Young-work, and Gimcheon Sangmu’s Ko Seung-beem have taken their places, although it’s unclear how this will affect the team. While Thursday’s game has no bearing on World Cup qualification, it may have an impact on the tournament’s outcome.

The World Cup draw

The World Cup draw will take place on April 1 in Doha, Qatar, based on world rankings released on March 31. Teams will be assigned to one of four pots based on their world rankings, with a win in the final two qualifiers potentially propelling Korea up a pot. In fact, this has little importance because the draw is still largely a matter of chance, with the pots only serving to spread out the teams with similar rankings.

At 8 p.m. on Thursday, South Korea and  Iran will face each other at Seoul World Cup Stadium. The Taeguk Warriors will play the UAE in their final qualifier for the 2022 Qatar World Cup on Tuesday at Al-Maktoum Stadium in Dubai following that game.

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