FIFA Asian World Cup 2026 qualifiers: South Korea beats Jordan 2-0; Uzbekistan held to goalless draw by Iran
Goals from Lee Jae-sung and Oh Hyeong-gu gave underfire coach Hong Myung-bo his second win in a row and lifted the Koreans on to seven points from three matches.
Published : Oct 10, 2024 22:40 IST , HONG KONG - 1 MIN READ
South Korea’s In-Beom Hwang in action with Jordan’s Noor Al Rawabdeh and Mohammed Abu Dahab. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
South Korea moved top of Group B after beating Jordan 2-0 in Amman on Thursday in the third round of the FIFA Asian World Cup 2026 qualifiers
Goals from Lee Jae-sung and Oh Hyeong-gu gave underfire coach Hong Myung-bo his second win in a row and lifted the Koreans on to seven points from three matches.
Hong had been booed after Korea’s opening 0-0 draw with Palestine in Seoul but back-to-back wins mean the Taeguk Warriors are in a strong position to continue their record of qualifying for every World Cup since 1986.
A header from Lee gave South Korea, missing injured captain Son Heung-min, the lead in the 38th minute and Oh doubled the advantage 23 minutes into the second half when he wrong-footed Yazeed Abulaila to score from inside the area.
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In Group A, Uzbekistan was unable to find a way past Iran’s defence despite the visitor having only 10 players for the final 35 minutes of its top-of-the-table clash as they played out a 0-0 draw in Tashkent.
Defender Saleh Hardani was shown a red card 10 minutes into the second half for a dangerous tackle on Uzbekistan captain Eldor Shomurodov.
The top two in each group advance automatically to the World Cup while the third and fourth-placed sides go into another round of preliminaries.