Preview: South Korea vs Iraq – Prediction, Team News, Lineups

They want to maintain their unbeaten record in Group B and are the early leaders South Korea will be welcome Iraq to Yongin Mireu Stadium for an AFC World Cup Qualifying game on Tuesday evening.

The Taegeuk Warriors secured a comfortable two-goal win away from home in their last game, while the Lions of Mesopotamia recorded a narrow victory over Palestine.

Game preview

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After their September schedule yielded four points from two games against Palestine and Oman, South Korea started their October task with a two-goal win at Jordan's home stadium on Thursday night as goals sounded on both sides of the half-time whistle Lee Jae Sung And Oh Hyun Gyu secured the maximum number of points.

After collecting seven points from the first three games of the third qualifying round, the Taegeuk Warriors are comfortably in first place in the Group B standings and already have a three-point lead between themselves and third-place Jordan.

After working as head coach for a year between 2013 and 2014, he took over the management of the national team for the second time at the beginning of the year. Hong Myung Bo has made an unbeaten start at the helm of South Korea, which is the third-highest AFC member in the FIFA rankings after Japan and Iran.

The Taegeuk Warriors will be hoping for a marked improvement from their last home game in World Cup qualifying on September 5, when the overwhelming favorites to dominate Group B were forced to share the points with Palestine after a goalless draw in Seoul.

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After failing to qualify for the last nine World Cups, Iraq's 2024-25 campaign will aim to emulate the national legends of the late 1980s who took the country to soccer's biggest stage in Mexico in 1986, when the Asian minnows failed to collect any points.

With AFC now automatically awarded eight places in the World Cup instead of four due to the expansion of the tournament for the 2026 edition, the Lions of Mesopotamia have a real chance of appearing in the competition for the first time in exactly four decades.

Iraq gave its dreams of reaching North America a huge boost Thursday night Jesus CasasPalestine's troops recorded a narrow one-goal win over bottom side Palestine thanks to a first-half strike from a 57-cap striker Ayman Hussein.

Despite sitting level on points with South Korea at the top of the group standings, the Lions of Mesopotamia are the big underdogs for success on Tuesday night when they face a team that has kept five straight clean sheets in this game in all competitions since January 2015.

South Korea World Cup Qualification – Asia Form:

Iraq World Cup Qualification – Asia:

Team news

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He suffered a muscle injury while playing for Tottenham Hotspur, the South Korean superstar Son Heung-min will be unavailable again on Tuesday evening.

Sent off in the 51st minute in the win over Jordan, Eom Ji Sung is questionable for this game, a development that will be a major concern for Swansea City supporters.

Among a host of names plying their trade in various leagues around the world, there are also high-profile talents in the Taegeuk Warriors ranks including Kim Min-jae of FC Bayern Munich and Lee Kang-in from Paris Saint Germain.

After keeping a clean sheet against Palestine on Thursday evening, Iraq should stick with a centre-back duo Manaf Younnes And Zaid Tahseen in front of the goalkeeper Jalal Hassan.

However, there will be a change in the engine room for Lions of Mesopotamia, with Amjad Attwan is expected to be replaced Safa Hadi as Amir Al Ammari's partner.

Possible starting lineup for South Korea:
Hyeon Woo; Young Woo, Yu Min, Min Jae, Myung Jae; Yong Woo, In Beom, Kang In, Jae Sung, Joon Ho; Min Kyu

Iraq possible starting lineup:
Hassan; Ali, Younnes, Tahseen, Doski; Attwan, Al-Ammari, Bayesh, Jasim, Amyn; Hussein

We say: South Korea – Iraq 2-0

After keeping clean sheets against Oman, Kuwait and Palestine, Iraq's defense faces one of the toughest tests in AFC football on Tuesday night.

Even with Spurs' Son out of action, we expect South Korea to have too much quality for the visitors, resulting in a third Group B win for the Taegeuk Warriors.

For data analysis of the most likely outcomes, scores and more for this game, please click here.

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