Revamped Korean squad to face Thailand in World Cup qualifier

A slightly-tweaked Korean national team will face Thailand in a 2026 World Cup qualifier on Thursday at home as interim manager Hwang Sun-hong takes the helm for the first time.

The Korean national team trains at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi on Monday ahead of Thursday's 2026 World Cup qualifier against Thailand. [YONHAP]

A slightly-tweaked Korean national team will face Thailand in a 2026 World Cup qualifier on Thursday at home as interim manager Hwang Sun-hong takes the helm for the first time.

Since crashing out of the semifinals of the Asian Cup on Feb. 6, Team Korea has gone through multiple changes, including replacing Jurgen Klinsmann with Hwang last month.

Hwang took the helm of the senior team despite also serving as U-23 squad manager, as the Korea Football Association said last month that it would appoint a permanent manger in May.

Thursday’s match will put Hwang to the test. Attention will be on whether Korea show more tactical awareness under new management — Klinsmann was repeatedly criticized for lacking tactics during his entire one-year spell.

Hwang made a few changes to the star-studded team that Klinsmann used for the Asian Cup, including calling up Ulsan HD forward Joo Min-kyu, who replaces Celtic forward Oh Hyeon-gyu.

Ulsan HD's Joo Min-kyu, right, shoots during a 2023-24 AFC Champions League match against Ventforet Kofu at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan on Feb. 15. [YONHAP]

Oh, who became a regular forward pick at the national team after moving to Celtic in January last year, failed to score in his nearly one-year stint with Korea.

The inclusion of Joo marked the first time he has received the national duty call and made him the oldest player to do so at 33 years and 333 days. He will be in national team action on the back of taking the 2023 K League 1 top scorer title with 17 goals.

Hwang also called up Birmingham City midfielder Paik Seung-ho, who has not been on the national team roster since a friendly with Uruguay in March last year.

Regular midfielder picks Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur and Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain are on the roster again after making headlines globally when news broke of a tiff on the sidelines of the Asian Cup last month. The pair have since buried the hatchet, with Lee publicly apologizing to Son and the rest of the national team for the incident.

Both players join the national team in good form, with Son having recorded one goal and two assists in a league fixture against Aston Villa on March 10 and Lee having scored a goal in Sunday’s match against Montpellier.

FC Midtjylland forward Cho Gue-sung is on the roster too despite an unimpressive performance at the Asian Cup, during which he only scored once and proved largely unproductive. The upcoming qualifier may be a chance for him to show improvements and continue his good form from Sunday’s fixture against Vejle BK, where he scored a penalty.

The attacking trio, however, may have more work to do against Thailand as winger Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers is out with an injury.

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Hwang Hee-chan is substituted after sustaining an injury during an FA Cup fifth round game against Brighton at the Molineux in Wolverhampton, England on Feb 28. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo is expected to start Thursday’s game in lieu of No. 1 goalkeeper pick Kim Seung-gyu, who has been out due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury he picked up during Korea’s run in the Asian Cup group stage.

Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae, meanwhile, joins the national team after seeing his playing time decrease at the club level.

Following his return from the Asian Cup, Kim was relegated to the bench during a Champions League game against Lazio on March 5 and a Bundesliga fixture against Darmstadt 98 last week. His teammate Eric Dier has seen more playing time in recent fixtures.

Thursday’s qualifier will be Korea and Thailand's first clash since Korea won 1-0 in 2016. Korea has been far more dominant, having recorded 30 wins, seven draws and eight losses against the Southeast Asian side to date.

The FIFA ranking between the two — Korea at No. 22 and Thailand at No. 101 — also suggests that Korea is a stronger contender, but rankings proved to be virtually meaningless in the Asian Cup where Korea drew with then-No. 130 Malaysia and lost to No. 87 Jordan.

Korea still displayed a convincing performance in Group C of the second round of the World Cup qualifiers under then-manager Klinsmann, winning the first game against Singapore 5-0 and second match against China 3-0.

Thanks to the two huge wins, Korea sit at the top of the group.

Thailand sits in second place with one win and one loss under their belt. Retaining their position on the table will perhaps be important for Thailand, as the winners and runners-up of each group of four reach the third round of the qualifiers and qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup.

The upcoming match will be Thailand’s first game since a 2-1 loss to Uzbekistan in the round of 16 at the Asian Cup on Jan. 30.

Thursday’s fixture will kick off at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul at 8 p.m.

Korea will then play Thailand again on March 26, as each group plays with a home-and-away round robin system. The second round of qualifiers will wrap up in June.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]