The Taegeuk Warriors, who are in peak goal-scoring form, are determined to dominate Singapore in their first meeting in 33 years with a fiery brand of 'attacking football'.
Jürgen Klinsmann's (GER) 24th-ranked national team (FIFA) will take on Singapore (155th) at 8 p.m. on Saturday at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in the first match of Group C of the 2026 North American Football Confederation (NAFTA) Asia Pacific Second Qualifying Round.
The match against Singapore is the first step towards the 2026 North American Championship, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. South Korea will face Singapore, China (79th) and Thailand (112th) in Group C of the second qualifying round, with the top two teams advancing to the third round.
Singapore is ranked 155th in the FIFA rankings, a far cry from South Korea, which is ranked 24th. In terms of head-to-head record, the Koreans have the edge with 21 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses.
Their most recent meeting was in September 1990, more than 33 years ago. Back then, South Korea ran away with a 7-0 victory thanks to multi-goal performances from Seo Jung-won, Jeong Jung-woon, Kim Joo-sung (2 goals) and Hong Myung-bo.
Despite the objective power differential, there is no room for complacency. "Even Bayern Munich (Germany) lost to a third division team," Klinsmann warned at the press conference.
As the team prepares to celebrate a victory at Anbangseo, the recent form of the 'Klinsmann ship' is not bad.
In October, the national team swept aside Tunisia 4-0 and Vietnam 6-0 in A matches on home soil. That's three straight wins, including a 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in Europe in September.
The Taeguk Warriors will look to start fresh against Singapore with a fresh attacking lineup.
South Korea is in good form with Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), Cho Kyu-sung (Mitwilan) and Lee Jae-sung (Mainz) all playing in Europe.
Captain Son Heung-min has transformed into a frontline striker for Tottenham this season and is tied for third in the English Premier League (EPL) with eight goals in the league. Wolverhampton striker Hwang Hee-chan has also scored six league goals (tied for sixth), including an assist in every game for his club in October,
Lee Kang-indo, who plays for French Ligue 1 side PSG, has also made the leap into a key role for the team, helping them to their fifth consecutive league win. After scoring three goals in two games, including a brace in the October A match, Lee is full of confidence after returning to PSG.
Additionally, frontline options Cho Kyu-sung and Oh Hyun-kyu (Celtic) have both found the back of the net in recent matches for their respective clubs and have improved their form.
"We will prepare to score as many goals as we can," Hwang Hee-chan said in an interview on the first day of the call-up, "and we will try to show our best form as it is our last A match in Korea this year."
South Korea national soccer team head coach Jürgen Klinsmann meets with players before training ahead of the second Asian qualifier for the FIFA Confederations Cup North America 2026 at Mokdong Stadium in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, South Korea, Thursday afternoon. Klinsmann's men will play Singapore at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Nov. 16 and China at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Center on Nov. 21.
Klinsmann, who recently watched the Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) match between Ryan City (Singapore) and Jeonbuk Hyundai in Singapore, is vigilant and determined to field the best possible lineup to win.
"They had eight or nine good Singaporean national team players," Klinsmann said, "so it's important for us to push them at our tempo from the start because they're going to come down defensively." The coach vowed to play attacking football to break through what is expected to be a tight defense.
After the Singapore match, the team will travel to China on Sept. 19 to face the Chinese national team in Shenzhen for the second leg on Sept. 21. 토토사이트
