Korea Republic vs Syria

Seoul World Cup Stadium is the venue as the Korea Republic and Syria go head-to-head in the FIFA World Cup Qualifying Group A.

After being held to a scoreless home draw to Iraq in their Group A curtain-raiser, the Korea Republic eked out a tight 1-0 home victory over Lebanon last time out to come within a two-point distance from section-toppers Iran. Barring that abovementioned stalemate with Iraq, the Koreans have won their remaining four World Cup qualifiers in 2021 by an aggregate score of 13-1, showing they mean business. Seeking their tenth World Cup finals appearance on the trot, the ‘Taegeuk Warriors’ head into proceedings as overwhelming favorites to pick up the three points. In addition to avoiding defeat in each of their previous four H2H meetings with Syria (W2, D2), Paulo Bento’s side can draw confidence from keeping a clean sheet in their last three H2Hs in a row.

In the meantime, the visitors have experienced a sluggish start to their Group A campaign, losing 1-0 to Iran in their group opener before salvaging a point against the United Arab Emirates last time out (1-1). Another poor result might effectively throw Syria out of the top-two race, and with the Syrians losing their last two World Cup qualifiers on the road, that prospect seems to be in the realm of possibility. Interestingly, since playing out a 1-1 draw with India in a friendly in July 2019, none of Syria’s subsequent 11 internationals on hostile soil have ended level (W3, L8). Scoring first could prove crucial to the traveling side’s hopes of staging an upset here, considering that six of their last eight matches away from home have seen the victor keep a blank sheet (W2, L6).