South Korea on course for 2026 World Cup while rivals North Korea struggle

In June 2009, South Korea had qualified for the World Cup by the time Iran came to Seoul (and produced that protest) but Park Ji-sung’s late strike secured a 1-1 draw. It was a goal more celebrated by the North Korea players watching in their hotel in Riyadh before their game with Saudi Arabia.

“Park Ji-sung gave us the best-ever assist,” the DPRK striker Jong Tae-se told me in an interview with the Guardian a few months later. “He gave us a great chance. It was so exciting. We knew that we only needed a draw and I had faith that we could do the job in Saudi Arabia.” It ended 0-0 and DPRK made it to South Africa and as well as the delight in Pyongyang, there was happiness in Seoul.

It ended a qualification campaign that had produced emotional scenes in Shanghai in 2008 when, after a dreadful 0-0 – Korean derbies are almost always dire affairs – Park and his teammates bowed to the fans in white and got a warm reception in return. Even the most cynical Chinese journalists in attendance got a little emotional and talked of one day something similar happening between China and Taiwan.

At the time Jong’s teammate Ahn Yong-hak was playing for the K-League club Suwon Bluewings, owned by Samsung, the epitome of southern capitalism. A few years later Jong, always a popular figure below the 38th Parallel, would have three solid seasons with the same club. It wasn’t all peace and love of course: the game was played in Shanghai because the north refused to fly the southern flag and play the anthem in Pyongyang, and a few months later after a 1-0 defeat in Seoul, the trenchcoated coach Kim Jong-hun accused the hosts of poisoning his players.

Yet it is a far cry from the current situation. It is hard to imagine joint celebrations if both make it to North America in 2026. Hours before North Korea played matchday four of the third round of qualification on Tuesday, they blew up the roads that link the two countries, still technically at war after the ceasefire that ended the Korean War in 1953. As symbolic acts go, it was as clear as it gets and a reflection of just how cold relations have become.

Anyway, it does not look as if both the “Chollima” and the “Taeguk Warriors” are going to make 2026. On Tuesday, North Korea travelled to Kyrgyzstan with two points, knowing a win would have put them right in the mix for third or fourth place at least. With the expansion of the 2026 World Cup, Asia has eight automatic berths: six go to the teams who finish in the top two of the three groups and the third- and fourth-placed finishers advance to the next stage where there are two more places on offer. But they lost 1-0 and are now bottom.

Uzbekistan and Iran defeated United Arab Emirates and Qatar respectively to move on to 10 points, six clear of the two Gulf nations in third and fourth.

Losing against the previously pointless Kyrgyzstan was a blow for North Korea, who had the better of the game but just could not make their superiority count. With games against the top two to come next month, it is not looking good. A lack of home advantage does not help. Pyongyang decided in the previous round that it could not host a game with Japan in March, citing worries over infectious diseases. Even now, the team play in Laos. Switching to the Kim Il Sung Stadium could make the difference.

South Korea are on course for 2026, which would be an impressive 11th successive World Cup appearance, a sequence bettered only by Brazil, Germany, Argentina and Spain. There have been issues in Seoul too, not least a warning from Fifa last month over a potential ban after the government told the Korea FA to get its act together. In short, the national team have been struggling to get over the ill-fated 12-month dalliance with Jürgen Klinsmann that ended with a 2-0 defeat against Jordan in the Asian Cup semi-finals in February.

The team, without the injured Son Heung-min and, after 20 minutes, the injured Hwang Hee-chan, went to Jordan and got some revenge last Thursday. In Asia, Amman is never an easy place to go but the 2-0 win was as clinical as it gets. It was followed by a 3-2 victory against Iraq back home. The Reds are three points clear at the top of Group B, ahead of those two teams. Oman, Kuwait and Palestine are going to compete for fourth.

Group C is a little more complex. Japan are still clear despite dropping their first points with a 1-1 draw at home against an Australia team that relished their underdog status and worked so hard. The Samurai Blue have 10 points, five more than the Socceroos.

China are still in with a shout of fourth, their official target, after a nervy 2-1 win against Indonesia in front of a delighted crowd in Qingdao. After three defeats, the victory does not lift Team Dragon off the bottom but does give a little hope and in times like these, that is sometimes in short supply on and off the pitch.