Asian Cup of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), made a turning point.

Team Korea beat Thailand 3-0 in its fourth away match in Group C of the second Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-Central America World Cup, which took place at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Wednesday. It was a multi-goal and no-goal match that ended its slump from the Asian Cup. The victory confirmed the team's advance to the final qualifying round.

"Players did their best to repay our players with a single win and a tie," said Hwang Seon-hong, who led the national team that was mired in various controversies such as poor performance at the Asian Cup and internal strife as interim coach. "I want to say thank you to the players and thank them for their hard work." In reality, the preparation process was short. The process of making players a "one team" again was also important. "It was difficult without the players' will. The players were determined to win no matter what," Hwang said.

Coach Hwang, who showed easy leadership by sealing the national team's conflict through two consecutive games against Thailand, will now naturally be named in the candidate list for the next A team coach.

However, there are still bigger gateways. Coach Hwang, who gave up the temporary baton of the A-team, will have a bigger task to do. He will return to his job as the coach of the U-23 national team and seek to advance to the finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Korea, which aims to advance to the finals for 10th consecutive time, will win a direct ticket to Paris only when it ranks among the top three at the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup, which will take place in Qatar from April 15.

While Hwang was absent from the U-23 team, the U-23 team won the 2024 WAFF U-23 Championship. In the final match held at Al Fate Stadium in Al Mubaraj, Saudi Arabia, the U-23 team tied with Australia 2-2 for 90 minutes in the first and second half before winning 4-3 in the penalty shootout that followed. The U-23 team was a prelude to the U-23 Asian Cup, and eight other countries, including Korea, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates, participated. Korea beat Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and Australia in turn.

"I want to wrap up (the A team's work) today, and now I want to go back to the athletes of the Olympic team who are working hard. I will prepare well and try to get good results in the U-23 Asian Cup," Hwang said.  토토사이트 순위