North Korea vs Korea Republic
It’s going to be a battle between two undefeated teams as North and South Korea will clash for the top spot in Group H of the World Cup 2022 qualifying campaign.
The Chollima and the Taeguk Warriors have steamrolled past all competition as they overwhelmed their group counterparts in Turkmenistan, Lebanon, and Sri Lanka who currently have three, three, and zero points respectively.
South Korea has dominated on both ends as they scored 10 goals in their last two fixtures against Sri Lanka and Turkmenistan while posting clean sheets. The North Koreans did the same feat on defence Lebanon and Sri Lanka, but they’ve only scored three goals.
Both of these teams look to be on a mission to secure their respective spots for the quadrennial meet and SBOBET football fans like me can’t wait for this highly-anticipated matchup.
Talking Points
South Korea loaded on all fronts
The Taeguk Warriors have been humming along under the tutelage of Portuguese boss Paulo Bento. In his one year in charge, the South Koreans have won in 11 out of their 18 matches, with six draws and one loss against the recent Asian Cup champions Qatar.
Their World Cup 2022 campaign got off to a strong start when they defeated Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka. Standouts such as Na Sang-Ho, Jung Woo-Young, Kim Shin-Wook have helped their team’s cause by pouring in some goals while Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min and Bordeaux’s Hwang Ui-Jo have been the steadying presence for the club.
Son and Hwang are the duo to look out for as they are very capable to produce some of the best World Cup 2022 highlights. The two of them have combined for 34 career international goals along with 110 caps between them. Bento will have the luxury of choosing either these two or field in young stars such as Lee Kangin or Hwang Hee Chan.
There’s no doubt that South Korea is one of the top football countries particularly in Asia as they’re loaded on all fronts, and it’s hard to imagine another team stopping them anytime soon given their recent form.
North Korea’s steady rise
Even if they’re only 113th in the FIFA World Rankings, the North Korean national team has come a long way since their inception, as they have qualified for the FIFA World Cup twice since 1958.
Their most memorable run came in the 1966 edition where they advanced to as far as the quarterfinals, only to lose to a stronger Portugal team with a tally of 5-3. They made their second appearance back in 2010. However, they didn’t win a single match in the group stages.
In their current World Cup 2022 campaign, Jong Il-Gwan and Jang Kuk-Chol supplied the goals for them and they are expected to bring their A-game moving forward to surprise more people.
Their World Cup 2022 odds of making it very far are not that high. But for a country not really known for its success in international football, their recent upward trajectory is quite a nice story in itself already.
History
This game between the Chollima and the Taeguk Warriors will mark the first time that they faced each other in 30 years to play a scheduled qualifiers match for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This will be the second visit of the South Koreans to Pyongyang since their international friendly game back in 1990.
The North Koreans were granted hosting rights of this qualifying match against South Korea back in July at the Asian Football Confederation draw for next year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar and in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in China.
They last locked horns in the early rounds of the of the 2010 FIFA World Cup when the match was moved to Shanghai, China since the North Koreans refused to play the Taeguk Warriors’ national anthem at their home soil.
The relationship between North and South Koreans has gone a long way since their cold war conflict from 1950. In fact, North Korea’s initiative to host this fixture in Pyongyang is an addition to their growing amiability ever since last year.
Using football and sports in general, as a means of improving diplomatic relationships is no longer a new concept particularly for North Korea.
They have partnered with China several times to host some friendly games over the years and China even sent some “volunteer supporters” for North Korea’s 2010 FIFA World Cup when they didn’t have much fanfare.
Overall, it’s good to see these countries improve their relationship over these past few years, and what better way to unite than by playing the beautiful game of football.
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