Asian Qualifiers - Son applauds young Korea Republic teammates

Son and Lee Kang-in netted braces as Korea Republic eased to a 7-0 win against Singapore in their Preliminary Joint Qualification – Round 2 for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ tie, with the result confirming the East Asian side as the Group C winners.

The Tottenham Hotspur forward was effusive in his praise for his teammates, with interim head coach Kim Do-hoon naming seven first-timers to the squad with five seeing action against Singapore.

Casas’ side defeated Indonesia 2-0 in their Preliminary Joint Qualification – Round 2 for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ tie in Jakarta on Thursday to confirm themselves as the Group F winners and the tactician wants them to aim even higher now.

Having already booked their spot in the third round of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 Finals, Iran faced stiff resistance from a Hong Kong side who were already out of the running.

However, a Mehdi Taremi hat-trick powered them to a 4-2 win with their clash against Uzbekistan on Tuesday to decide the group winners.

The thrilling match was tied 2-2 with Pham Tuan Tai emerging Vietnam’s hero with the winning goal in the fifth minute of added time to keep his team in the running for a top two spot, with Kim praising his clinical forwards and general mood in the squad.

The result left Malaysia third in the standings, three points behind their Central Asian opponents with Oman having confirmed qualification after a 3-0 win over Chinese Taipei.

Kim’s side face Chinese Taipei on Tuesday, needing to win by a sizable margin and hoping that Oman defeat Kyrgyz Republic to achieve a miraculous qualification for the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers and secure an early ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup.

Thailand struck through Supachok Sarachat in the 20th minute with Behram Abduweli equalising to maintain their three-point advantage over the Thais heading into Tuesday’s final matchday.

China need a draw against group winners Korea Republic while Thailand have to beat Singapore by a sizable margin and hope Ivankovic’s side lose to stand a chance of progressing.

The victory made it five wins out of five for Japan in Group B of the Preliminary Joint Qualification – Round 2 for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ with Moriyasu now even more confident of his side's chances despite the tougher matches to come.

The Afghanistan head coach is aiming to lead the team to historic firsts by reaching the Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 as well securing a place in the third round of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers, with the Central Asian side needing to better India’s result in the final set of matches on Tuesday.

Having already secured their spot in the next round ahead of the clash in Dhaka, the challenge was for Australia to maintain their winning streak and keep another clean sheet - tests which the Socceroos passed with flying colours under humid conditions.

A goalless draw with Lebanon saw Palestine booking their spot in the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers for the first time as well as confirming a fourth consecutive appearance at the AFC Asian Cup Finals.

Also through to the next stage were Korea Republic as a 7-0 defeat of Singapore meant they are well on course for an 11th consecutive appearance at the FIFA World Cup Finals.