South Korea faced a 1-1 draw against Thailand in Seoul during the second round of Asia's preliminaries for the 2026 World Cup. This match marked their first game post the sacking of Juergen Klinsmann following a disappointing Asian Cup campaign. Son Heung-Min managed to put the home team in the lead just three minutes before halftime by side-footing the ball into the net from eight yards out. However, Supanhat Mueanta equalized for Thailand from close range in the 61st minute.
The result prevented interim coach Hwang Sun-hong from securing a victory in his debut game in charge. Despite this, South Korea still leads Group C by three points over Thailand at the midway point, as China settled for a 2-2 draw against Singapore. The top two teams from each of the nine groups will progress to the next phase of qualifying, where Asia's eight guaranteed spots for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico will be determined.
In other matches, Japan, leading Group B, clinched a 1-0 victory over North Korea with Ao Tanaka scoring just 81 seconds into the game. China, under new coach Branko Ivankovic, saw Wu Lei netting twice, but Singapore fought back with goals from Faris Ramli and Jacob Mahler to secure their first point in the group.
Elsewhere, Kyrgyzstan managed a 2-0 win over Taiwan in Group D despite playing with 10 men for 66 minutes due to Said Datsiev's red card. Indonesia triumphed over Vietnam 1-0 in Jakarta in Group F, while Uzbekistan secured a 2-0 win against hosts Hong Kong in Group E, with Eldor Shomurodov finding the net.
Asian Cup finalists Jordán cruised to a 3-0 victory over Pakistan, with Mousa Tamari scoring twice to take the visitors to four points from three games in Group G. Australia continued their perfect start in the qualifiers with a 2-0 win over Lebanon in Group I, courtesy of goals from Keanu Baccus and Kye Rowles.
