The October match opponent for Hong Myung-bo's team has been set as Paraguay, known as 'a powerhouse of South America.'
The Korea Football Association announced on the 12th that "the South Korea national football team, participating in the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, will face Paraguay at home on October 14. The match against Paraguay is one of two matches to be held during the October A match week, with specific location and kickoff time yet to be determined."
The last time the national team faced Paraguay was 3 years and 4 months after the friendly match held on June 10, 2022, in Suwon. At that time, the national team trailed 0-2 but managed a 2-2 draw thanks to consecutive goals from Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur) and Jung Woo-young (Union Berlin). Their all-time record stands at 7 matches with 2 wins, 4 draws, and 1 loss.
Ranked 48th by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), Paraguay is currently 5th in the North and Central America World Cup South American qualifiers and is competing for one of the 6 direct tickets allocated to the continent.
In particular, Paraguay demonstrated its strong capabilities by defeating Uruguay and Chile 2-0 and 1-0, respectively, and managing a 2-2 draw with Colombia. Their best achievement in World Cup history is reaching the quarterfinals at the 2010 South Africa tournament.
Meanwhile, the South Korea national team, led by coach Hong Myung-bo, finished the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup Asian qualifiers undefeated. Korea defeated Kuwait 4-0 in the final match of the 10th round of Group B held on the 10th.
Thus, Hong Myung-bo's team concluded the World Cup qualifiers undefeated. The national team wrapped up the North and Central America World Cup 2nd and 3rd qualifiers with 11 wins and 5 draws, without ever losing. This is an achievement not seen since the 2010 South Africa World Cup, 16 years ago.
Korea confirmed its qualification to the finals early on. On the 6th, a victory against Iraq on the road by 2-0 marked a historic 11th consecutive qualification for the World Cup. This is the first-ever achievement in Asia and the sixth overall worldwide. In Group B, both Korea and Jordan secured their direct World Cup tickets.
Additionally, Korea concluded the final match at home with a resounding victory, achieving a strong finish. In the last match of the 3rd round of the 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifiers, Korea faced a disappointing defeat against the United Arab Emirates, but this time produced a different result. In the 30th minute of the first half, Jeon Jin-woo opened the scoring, followed by goals from Lee Kang-in, Oh Hyun-kyu, and Lee Jae-sung in the second half.
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