Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Bangkok: Korea Republic kicked-off their quest to reach the FIFA World Cup for the ninth time in succession began on Tuesday with an assured 2-0 victory over Myanmar as the 2015 AFC Asian Cup runners-up made a winning start to their 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifying campaign.
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors midfielder Lee Jae-sung put the Koreans in the driving seat when the 22-year-old struck with ten minutes of the first half remaining with his second senior international goal following the winner in the Taeguk Warriors’ 1-0 friendly defeat of New Zealand back in March.
The Koreans doubled their advantage in the 67th minute with what transpired to be the final goal of the game, which came courtesy of Bayer Leverkusen star Son Heung-min (pictured) as Uli Stielike’s side joined Kuwait and Lebanon, who defeated Laos by an identical score line in Tuesday’s other fixture, at the top of the Group B standings.
The participating teams will compete according to a double round robin format, with the Round 2 qualification matches being held between June 11, 2015 and March 29, 2016.
The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup.
Photo: AFP