Iran beat Iraq to reach 6th final
Korea’s qualification for the 10th consecutive World Cup final has been delayed.
Korea recorded 17 points (5 wins, 2 draws) by defeating Lebanon 1-0 in the 7th leg of the 2022 Qatar World Cup Asian final qualifier on the 27th. On the 28th, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also defeated Syria 2-0 to reach 9 points (2 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses).
With 3 matches remaining in the final qualifying round, the difference between 2nd place Korea and 3rd place UAE in Group A was maintained at 8 points, and Korea could not confirm the 2nd place in Group A. In the remaining three matches, if UAE wins and Korea loses, the ranking could change. However, if Korea wins the 8th match against Syria to be held in Dubai, UAE on February 1, it will be confirmed to advance to the finals regardless of the outcome of the remaining matches.
Syria are at the bottom of the table with 2 draws and 5 losses (2 points). Syria, which has not won a single win along with Iraq (4 draws, 3 losses, 4 points) in the final qualifying round, is recording the most goals in Group A with 5 points and 13 runs. The FIFA ranking is also 86th, lower than Korea (33rd). Because of the large power gap with South Korea, it is predicted that South Korea will easily win the Syrian war.
1st in Group A Iran defeated Iraq 1-0 to record 6 wins and 1 draw (19 points), securing at least 2nd place in Group A regardless of the remaining match result, becoming the first Asian region to qualify for the World Cup finals. In this final qualifying round, which will be held in Groups A and B, the 1st and 2nd places in each group will go straight to the finals. Iran succeeded in qualifying for the World Cup for the third time in a row and for the sixth time in its career since the 2014 Brazil Games.
Meanwhile, in Group B, Japan defeated China 2-0 in the home match. Japan maintained second place by one point behind lead Saudi Arabia (16 points, 5 wins and 1 draw), which had played one game less with 15 points (5 wins, 2 losses). However, Australia, who defeated Vietnam 4-0, is closely following Japan with 14 points (4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss). The difference in points between 1st and 3rd places is only 2, so the rankings can all change depending on the result of one match.
Reporter Won-hong Lee bluesky@donga.com
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