South Korea is on the verge of being forced to go to the World Cup finals, Iraq, and Palestine in shock
South Korea is on the verge of being forced to go to the World Cup finals, Iraq, and Palestine in shock
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The national soccer team, Hong Myung-bo, ended up with two draws due to poor performance at home, but the shock defeat of the rival team was on the verge of advancing to the World Cup finals.
Iraq, ranked third in Group B in the third qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup in Asia, lost to underdog Palestine.
Iraq scored the first goal in the eighth Group B match of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup held at Amman International Stadium in Jordan on Sunday, but lost points in succession right before the game ended, ultimately kneeling 1-2 against the Palestinians. Iraq, ranked third in Group B, failed to win points and only ended up with 12 points.
The team had a four-point gap with Korea (16 points), the leader of Group B, and was one point behind Jordan (13 points), the leader of Group B. In contrast, Palestine had its first historic victory in the third qualifying round for the World Cup. 먹튀검증
Since South Korea and Jordan shared one point each in the previous match, Iraq could have ranked second in the group if it had gained three points against the Palestinians. In that case, the three-way race between South Korea, Jordan, and Iraq was highly likely to continue into the final two consecutive games in June. However, Iraq suffered a shocking defeat, making it more likely for South Korea to advance to the World Cup finals.
Iraq, ranked 56th in the FIFA rankings, failed to keep Ayman Hussein's first header following Ibrahim Bayeshi's cross in the 34th minute of the first half and lost to Palestine (101st). The Palestinians, who were pushing Iraq in the second half, balanced with Wessam Abu Ali's header from Adam Kaid's corner kick in the 43rd minute of the second half. With time almost up in the second half, Amid Mahajna's header following Kaid's corner kick burst just before the end of the match, and Palestine completed a thrilling reversal.
With the Palestinian victory, Korea's advance to the World Cup finals has become a hot topic of debate.
If Korea falls to the third place in its group in the remaining two matches, it should lose to Iraq 0-3 or higher, to Kuwait at home, and at the same time, to Jordan's away win in Oman and a draw at home with Iraq. Due to Iraq's unexpected defeat in the Palestinian match, Team Hong Myung-bo has virtually confirmed its advance to the World Cup finals. If the team loses in an away match against Iraq in June, it will decide on its own.