South Korea will take on Malaysia, Jordan and Bahrain in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in Qatar next year, in a bid to capture their first continental football title since 1960.
In a draw held at the Katara Opera House in Doha on Thursday, South Korea ended up with those three countries in Group E.
The tournament will kick off in Qatar on Jan. 12 next year, and the final is set for Feb. 10. It will feature 24 countries divided into six groups of four. The top two countries from each group, plus the four-best third place teams, will advance to the round of 16.
South Korea claimed the first two editions of the Asian Cup in 1956 and 1960, but have not won it since. They have been runners-up four times, most recently in 2015.
South Korea head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has repeatedly stated that his short-term goal is to win the Asian Cup. The German legend was named South Korea's new bench boss in February and made his coaching debut here the following month.
At No. 27, South Korea are the highest-ranked team in Group E, followed by Jordan (No. 84), Bahrain (No. 85) and Malaysia (No. 138).
Against Malaysia, South Korea have registered 26 wins, 12 draws and eight losses. Their most recent meeting came in June 1989, during the Asian qualifiers for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
South Korea have been undefeated against Jordan in all five meetings to date, with three wins and two draws. They haven't played Jordan since beating them 1-0 in a friendly match in November 2014.
South Korea have beaten Bahrain 11 times in 16 meetings, while taking four draws and one loss. The two countries last faced each other in the round of 16 at the 2019 Asian Cup, with South Korea prevailing 2-1.
Group A will feature the host country Qatar along with China, Tajikistan and Lebanon. Group B's teams are Australia, Uzbekistan, Syria and India.
Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Palestine will play in Group C. Indonesia, coached by South Korean tactician Shin Tae-yong, will face Japan, Iraq and Vietnam in Group D.
Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan and Oman will play in Group F.
Seven of the eight stadiums for the upcoming Asian Cup also hosted matches during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Qatar are the defending champions. They knocked out South Korea in the quarterfinals of the 2019 competition in the United Arab Emirates.
This will be the 18th edition of the competition. It was originally set to kick off in China in June 2023, but the AFC announced in May last year that China wouldn't be able to host the competition because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qatar beat South Korea for the bid to host the tournament. Qatar then moved the event to the January-February 2024 window due to the high summer temperatures in the Gulf nation and Qatar's participation in the CONCACAF Gold Cup from late June to mid July this year.
Source: Yonhap News Agency