"Son Heung-min can participate in the match. I need to discuss the playing time with the player."

The national soccer team led by coach Hong Myung-bo will face Kuwait at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 10th in the final match of the 10th game in Group B of the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup Asian 3rd Qualifying Round.

Korea wrote the history of qualifying for the World Cup for the 11th time in a row, becoming the sixth in the world and the first in Asia, by winning 2-0 in the away match against Iraq on the 6th. In Group B, Korea in first place (19 points) and Jordan in second place (16 points) will go directly to the World Cup.

Korea is currently on a 15-game undefeated streak (10 wins, 5 draws) in the North and Central America World Cup 2nd and 3rd qualifying rounds, aiming for an unbeaten qualifying round for the first time in 16 years since the 2010 South Africa World Cup.

Korea has only recorded 'unbeaten in World Cup qualifiers' under the current system, where 5 to 6 countries compete in the final qualifying rounds, in the 1990 Italy tournament (9 wins, 2 draws) and the 2010 South Africa tournament (7 wins, 7 draws).

Korea is ranked 23rd in the FIFA rankings, which is 111 spots higher than Kuwait (134th). In head-to-head records, Korea leads with 13 wins, 4 draws, and 8 losses, including a recent 5-game winning streak.

Ahead of the match, coach Hong Myung-bo stated at a press conference held on the 9th, "We are facing our final match. We will play at home. Our players have managed well during the challenging Middle Eastern away matches. The sweat they have shed deserves praise. I hope we can make the best of tomorrow's game."

Following this, Coach Hong explained, "We need to maintain the framework we've been using. However, since it's the last match and there are new players, tactical changes may be made. We could present what we've prepared in a new way depending on the game situation. We must check the abilities of players by position while retaining the basic structure. I have been observing the movements of the newly joined players. There will be changes among the players."

Regarding captain Son Heung-min, who could not participate in the recent match against Iraq due to injury, Coach Hong Myung-bo noted, "We must make the final decision based on today's training. He is in a condition to participate in the match," adding, "I will discuss with Son Heung-min directly after today's training how much he can play."

Predicting changes for the North and Central America World Cup, Coach Hong Myung-bo explained, "After tomorrow's match, we have the East Asian Cup in July and an A-match in November. We will create a manual to prepare. We need to ascertain how applicable it is during the finals. Although the time is short, we will create a manual that can help our team grow. There is one year left until the World Cup. I remember having taken charge of the national team at this time. There are certainly considerable differences between then and now. Back then, I focused on understanding the players, but now that understanding is complete. We will prepare well for what is needed on the World Cup stage."

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