South Korean players warm up before a training session for the FIFA World Cup at Chivas Verde Valle in Zapopan, Mexico, Monday(local time). Yonhap
South Korea heads into the Lion’s Den to take on Mexico in Guadalajara late Friday morning Seoul time. Since the draw was made for the 2026 World Cup in December, all knew that this would be the toughest game. It is a journey that is not as daunting as it could have been as the Taeguk Warriors have three points in the bank after the 2-1 win over the Czech Republic at the same stadium last week.
It means that, with a final game against South Africa still to come next week, Korea is in a good position. Had the opener ended in a loss, and with the Czechs taking the lead that was a possibility before Hwang In-beom and Oh Hyeong-gyu scored, then the team would have desperately needed a result against Mexico and been under real pressure. Now, a draw would be fine and even a defeat, as long as the performance was OK, would not be the end of the world or the World Cup.
A win however, would be spectacular and a real statement against a Mexican team ranked 13 in the world, eight above Hong Myung-bo’s men. It would mean that Korea become the first team at the tournament to secure a place in the Round of 32 (remember, there are 12 groups of four in this World Cup that has been expanded to 48 teams).
