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Within the 2026 World Cup qualification campaign in Asia, only 18 teams are left to fight for eight automatic slots. Group B deserved some level of attention. Here’s the breakdown of what’s to be expected.
Amidst the ongoing political chaos related to impeaching President Yoon Suk Yeol and the tragic Jeju Air crash in Muan, the national team could be the thing to unite Koreans.
The Taegeuk Warriors, under the lead of Hong Myung-bo, who coached his countrymen back in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, appear to be running to the finish line as well. Despite initial scepticism tracing back to his unsuccessful World Cup in Brazil, he has proven doubters wrong when his team look solid and hard to crack. Illustratively, South Korea are topping the table, including a sweet revenge 2-0 win in Amman against Jordan, the same scoreline that saw South Korea miss out on the chance to end their Asian Cup drought.
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Yet, two consecutive draws to Palestine, the supposedly weakest team in the group, present a major challenge. The team remain highly reliant on the aura of Son Heung-min, who is undisputedly South Korea’s most popular celebrity at the moment. Lee Kang-in, the PSG man, has also underperformed, with no goal in the final round. Hwang Hee-chan has sought to fill the void, but he clearly has not lived up to expectations, and his inconsistent form with Wolverhampton doesn’t help either.
Adding further worries is South Korea’s surprisingly unconvincing home record in this WCQ campaign. While undefeated for now, South Korea have played better away than at home. Indeed, except for the 5-0 thrashing of Singapore in Seoul, South Korea have struggled against more powerful visitors. Hard-fought draws with Thailand and Palestine, and difficult wins against China and Iraq also exposed their shaky track record at home.
Son Heung-min. (Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Jesús Casas’ Mesopotamian Lions are in dreamland. Formerly Luis Enrique’s assistant, Casas clearly knew what to do with this Iraq side and his impact is undeniably huge.
With three wins, two draws and only one loss, occurring in a fierce away game against South Korea, Casas has proven to be the right man for the job. The key to enabling Iraq’s performances lie in Casas’ pragmatic but flexible approach. By addressing the backline, a long-time concern for the Iraqis, they have built a very formidable defence. This helped free Aymen Hussein, who struck three goals in this phase.
A disappointing Gulf Cup campaign in the final month of 2024, with Iraq – then defending champions – crashing out in the group stages, was a setback, but with Iraq in firm control in the qualifiers, this could be temporary. Indeed, the Iraqi FA had already made clear that the Gulf Cup would be used as a drill for the remainder of World Cup qualifying. That means, there is still a lot to expect from the Mesopotamian Lions in the final matches.
Current Asian Cup runners-up aren’t exactly in healthy form, even if they aren’t subpar.
With nine points, the Chivalrous Jordanian team are third and still have legit chances to turn things around, especially with South Korea and Iraq yet to qualify directly to North America. But since replacing Hussein Ammouta, Jamal Sellami had difficulties trying to keep the ship sailing. This is notable, as Jordan missed opportunities to defeat Kuwait twice, and suffered an agonising 2-0 loss at home to South Korea, who they beat back in the Asian Cup in Qatar. The country’s biggest star, Musa Al-Taamari, had yet to live up to expectations, as the burden was placed on Yazan Al-Naimat, the country’s top scorer in this phase.
The legacy of Ammouta with Jordan remains a looming shadow and many Jordanians clearly regret how they failed to convince Ammouta to stay in charge of the team. Sellami has the advantage of being from the same country as Ammouta (Morocco), but he seems to lack the tactical and strategic shrewdness of his predecessor. With that, it isn’t hard to explain why Jordan haven’t performed to their best in the WCQ campaign.
It’s hard to believe but the past image of a fluid, unpredictable Oman side that captured attention back in the 2022 WCQ cycle is gone. The team’s regression, with only six points after six matches, underlines their struggle. Oman have also changed managers thrice in this phase, each trying to undo the process of the predecessors, only making the matter more difficult.
There is a glimpse of hope though. The current coach, Rashid Jaber Al-Yafai, guided Oman to the runners-up finish at the recent Gulf Cup, including a famous 2-1 win over a full-strength Saudi side in the semi-finals despite having played with ten men for three quarters. It’s notable because it was the same man who gave Oman two wins out of his first four matches in charge during the concurrent World Cup qualifiers.
Jaber’s shrewd tactical and man-management skills have earned him the respect of his fellow players. If things can go right, a possible Omani resurgence can’t be underestimated.
Once a proud Asian powerhouse, having won the 1980 Asian Cup on home soil and debuted at the 1982 World Cup, Kuwait are trying to rediscover their roots. Their qualification to the 2027 Asian Cup after an eight-year absence was a great success. Juan Antonio Pizzi perhaps understood the challenge when he was named Kuwait coach, replacing Portuguese Rui Bento.
Four points after six matches is surprisingly decent for a side that have just embarked on a rebuild. This included two grinding draws to current Asian Cup runners-up Jordan, and a good fight against their arch-rivals Iraq at home. Kuwaiti rebuilding continued with their success at the Gulf Cup on home soil, advancing past the group stages of the regional event for the first time in a decade. The competition also introduced one of Kuwait’s upcoming bright stars, Mohammad Daham, who is framed to be the successor to the legendary strikers Bader Al-Mutawa and Yousef Nasser Al-Suleiman.
The memoirs of the 1980s Golden Generation are still fresh in Kuwait. Qualifying for the World Cup remains an arduous task, but if everything goes right, Kuwait can realistically dream for a World Cup return in the future.
The Fedayeens had already stunned everyone with two famous draws to a South Korea team featuring Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in, Kim Min-jae and Hwang Hee-chan. This shows the tremendous resilience of Palestine, in spite of being unable to play at home due to the war in Gaza and conflict with Israel.
But a limit on resources is straining Palestine’s ability to play competitively and they have to rely on facilities in other Arab and Muslim countries. The impact is profound as Palestine have only amassed three points. Moreover, the lack of financial ability saw Palestine terminate their contract with Tunisian Makram Daboub, who was clearly the Fedayeens’ most successful manager to date.
Instability won’t help Palestine in the long term and they will need help to salvage their qualification.
South Korea will need to win all two home matches in March against Oman and Jordan, while hoping for Iraq to flop in the qualifiers to ensure their place and, perhaps, even book an early ticket to North America. Questions over their disappointing home record still linger. Just one flop in March will turn their June fixture against Iraq into a do-or-die affair.
Iraq will be happy to apply pressure on the Taegeuk Warriors, knowing the difficulties South Korea face playing at home. Their March calendar is a blessing for the Mesopotamian Lions with Kuwait and Palestine on the horizon. However, June will be a tougher challenge against South Korea and Jordan.
Jordan will also wish to keep up their pace against both South Korea and Iraq, and they will need to stop dropping points seen with Kuwait. A positive note is that Jordan did snatch a goalless draw in Basra against Iraq, and this can be weaponised for their returning fixture in Amman.
Oman can be the wild card. Qualifying for the World Cup directly is clearly unlikely, but with a playoff spot to think of, the Gulf’s Samba can’t drop the ball completely. Beating Jordan, Palestine and Kuwait is a possibility; and even the possibility of beating South Korea away can’t be ruled out.
Kuwait’s hope for revival remain unlikely, thus reaching the playoffs would be considered an overachievement. But the search for a first win continues in an unforgiving schedule, with Iraq and South Korea away and Oman at home. Oman and Palestine offer the best opportunities for the Blues.
Palestine are hopeful but their conditions won’t allow them anything more tangible than hope. However, their draw against South Korea could inspire similarly successful results against Iraq, Jordan, Oman and Kuwait.
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