On the evening of October 15, Beijing time, in the fourth round of Group B of the Asian Top 18 of the World Preliminary Championship, the Korea men's football team faced the Iraq men's football team at home. In the end, Korea relied on the joint goal of Oh Se-hoon, Lee Jae-seong and Oh Hyun-hun, and narrowly defeated Iraq 3-2 to win the battle for the top spot in the group, reaching 10 points and continuing to lead the standings, and the side was also 7 points more than the national football team, and we just won the victory over Indonesia and won 3 points.
This is the second consecutive World Preliminary Championship in which the two teams have been in the same group, and during the last round of 12, Korea won 3-0 away after a 0-0 draw at home to Iraq, and have been unbeaten for 18 consecutive years.
In the last round, both teams won and currently have seven points in three rounds, with Korea relying on goal difference to beat Iraq to lead the standings, and this game is a direct battle for the top of the group. In the latest FIFA rankings, Korea ranked 23rd and Iraq ranked 55th.
In this game, Korea sent Oh Se-hoon as a single arrow, Hwang In-beom, Park Yong-woo, Lee Jae-seong, Bae Jun-ho and Lee Gang-in in the midfield, and the star Son Heung-min continued to be absent.
At home, Korea controlled the game from the start, and Iraq could only defend and counter-attack, but also create a certain threat.
In the 3rd minute, Pei Junhao's shot from a small angle in the penalty area was blocked and missed the goal. In the 30th minute, Korea made a mistake in the back pass, and Yahya shot directly from a distance flew away. In the 38th minute, Iraq's forward pass to the middle of the penalty area, Hussein shook his head and shot slightly wide of the goal, which was also the most threatening attack since Iraq's opening.
In the 41st minute, Korea infiltrated the Iraq penalty area on the right, Bae Junhao passed to the goal, and Oh Se-hoon completed the outflanking goal to help Korea break the deadlock 1-0.
According to half-time statistics, Korea had 78% possession, but only four shots on goal and one on target were converted into goals, while Iraq's three shots were not on target, creating no threat.
Shortly after the start of the second half, the Korea backline conceded:
In the 50th minute, Iraq passed the ball to the goal, and Hussein scored with a barb to level the score 1-1.
In the face of Iraq's counterattack, Korea changed the trend of the game by making substitutions.
In the 75th minute, Atiye made a mistake in clearing the siege, Lee Jae-seong's pass caused a line change, and Oh Hyun-hyun scored to help Korea take a 2-1 lead again.
In the 83rd minute, Lee Myung-jae crossed and assisted Lee Jae-seong to break the goal to help Korea extend the score 3-1.
Iraq pulled one back in stoppage time, but lost 3-2.
After the victory, Korea reached 10 points, leaving Iraq behind them three points, and continued to lead the standings, and as many as 6 points ahead of third-placed Jordan, competing for the top two in the group to take the initiative. It seems that it is only a matter of time before Korea qualifies for the World Cup, and the overall strength is unique in this group.