South Korea vs Palestine

Seoul World Cup Stadium sets the stage for a ‘David vs Goliath’ 2026 World Cup qualification match between South Korea and Palestine.

South Korea’s pursuit of their 11th consecutive World Cup qualification is firmly on track after Hong Myung-bo’s side strolled to a top-table Group C finish in the second stage, dropping points just once in six matches (W5, D1). Defensive solidity carried the Koreans through phase two as they conceded just once. Meanwhile, their free-firing frontline bagged 20 goals, suggesting their first-ever encounter against Palestine could be one-way traffic. However, the Taegeuk Warriors shouldn’t get ahead of themselves after failing to score more than one goal in three of their last five home outings, friendlies included. Yet, anything other than South Korea’s triumph in this match-up would be an epic surprise, especially considering they’ve not lost to Asian opposition on home turf for over three years.

In the meantime, the Palestinians have sneaked into the third qualification round on goal difference alone, edging Lebanon to a second-place finish in Group I despite sharing the same number of points (8 – W2, D2, L2). Palestine ended the second qualification phase on a sorrowful note, slumping to a 5-0 loss to Australia on the road, and will rightfully feel concerned about another heavy defeat in Seoul. Palestine’s best chance of pulling off an upset in Korea is to shore up their defensive woes since they’re unlikely to pack a punch after netting just once on three road trips in the previous World Cup qualification stage (W1, D1, L1). But before the abovementioned debacle in Australia, the Knights had kept back-to-back clean sheets in away World Cup qualifiers.