Four players will make their first appearance against Singapore, and new faces will be ready for the match against China.안전놀이터
At 8 p.m. on the 11th at Seoul World Cup Stadium, South Korea and China will hold the sixth round of Group C of the second Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North and Central America World Cup. South Korea defeated Singapore 7-0 in the fifth round on the 8th, confirming its top spot in the group and advance to the next round. China, which is second in the group, needs one more point to confirm its advance to the third qualifying round on its own.
Under the previous coach system last year, the team had a limited pool of players. Jurgen Klinsmann was stingy in finding new faces. Klinsmann, who had been negligent in watching the K-League, has made little change to his roster since debuting with Seol Young-woo, Park Yong-woo and Hong Hyun-suk due to injuries.
Since Klinsmann’s replacement, a new wind has been created for the national team as it has been under the system of interim coaches one after another. In March, interim coach Hwang Sun-hong selected Joo Min-kyu, Jung Ho-yeon and Lee Myung-jae for positions that have emerged as a concern for the national team before and after the Asian Cup in Qatar, and even gave them a chance to make their debut. Coach Kim Do-hoon, who took the helm during the A-match in June, made a bigger change to the list. As regular members of the existing national team, including Kim Min-jae and Cho Kyu-sung, were unable to participate in the aftermath of injuries, they boldly included seven players who had no experience in A-match. Four of them, Oh Se-hoon, Bae Joon-ho, Hwang Jae-won and Park Seung-wook made their A-match debuts against Singapore.
New faces are giving a boost to the national team. They have shown the possibility to establish themselves as new options in their respective positions. Notably, Joo Min-kyu, a late freshman who joined the national team after a long wait, impressed at an A-match in March, before re-winning the team in June, displaying stellar performance by scoring one goal and three assists in the match against Singapore. Bae Joon-ho and Park Seung-wook, who made their debut matches in the last match, collaborated to score points and scored their debut attack points side by side.
New faces who have not yet stepped on the ground are also waiting for the match against China. Ha Chang-rae, who has good physical conditions, is the type of center back suitable for preventing desperate China. Choi Joon, who uses the Seoul World Cup Stadium as his home, seeks a chance to make his debut as a right full-back following Hwang Jae-won and Park Seung-wook. Although it is not a position that changes frequently, considering the league’s performance, goalkeeper Hwang In-jae can also get a chance to prove it.