SEOUL – South Korea’s national football team is set to carry a lineup of familiar stars into the forthcoming FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Singapore and China, maintaining a core group that secured commanding victories in recent friendly games.
According to Yonhap News Agency, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann unveiled the 23-man roster on Monday. This announcement comes after South Korea's dominant performance last month, which included a 4-0 win against Tunisia and a 6-0 victory over Vietnam.
The selection saw a couple of changes from previous calls. Song Bum-keun makes a return as goalkeeper after a five-month absence, replacing third-string Kim Joon-hong, while defender Kim Ju-sung was omitted from the October roster.
Team captain Son Heung-min, a pivotal figure in the team's attack, is slated to lead the squad alongside Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain, who has been showing a strong offensive presence.
The team will kick off their Group C campaign at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, facing Singapore on November 16 at 8 p.m. The historical record favors South Korea, with 22 victories out of 27 encounters since their first match, with only one defeat dating back to 1968.
The second match for the team will be an away game against China on November 21, against whom South Korea holds an even more dominant record, with 22 wins and only two losses.
Klinsmann is expected to commence the training camp in Seoul next Monday and will hold a press conference on the same day to discuss the squad selection.
Beyond the November fixtures, the South Korean team is scheduled to face Thailand twice in March 2024 and then play away in Singapore and at home against China in the following months.
Having consistently featured in the World Cup since 1986, South Korea is looking to extend their streak in a qualifying journey that involves 36 nations across nine groups. The top two teams from each group will advance to a third round, which forms part of the road to the 2026 World Cup, the first to host 48 teams.