North Korea has no chance of participating in the 2026 World Cup

North Korea missed out on the 2026 World Cup after a 1-2 defeat to the UAE in the third qualifying round match on March 25.

North Korea conceded defeat to the UAE. Photo: Reuters .

Fabio Lima opened the scoring for the UAE in the 5th minute at the neutral Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium (Saudi Arabia), giving the away team a big advantage. However, North Korea played hard and equalized before the end of the first half thanks to Kim Yu-song. It seemed like the match would end in a draw, but Sultan Adil Alamiri shined in the 90+8 minute, giving the UAE a dramatic win.

This result officially means that North Korea has no chance of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. Coach Sin Yong-nam's team has fallen to the bottom of Group A with only 2 points after 8 matches. The team has not won any matches, drawn 2 matches and lost 6 times.

North Korea is also the first team in Asia to miss out on the 2026 World Cup, although there are still two more matches left to close the third qualifying round.

On the other side, the 2-1 victory over North Korea helped the UAE consolidate their third place in Group A with 13 points after 8 matches. The team is in a favorable position to continue the race for a ticket to the 2026 World Cup.

Also in Group A, Kyrgyzstan, ranked 107th in FIFA, caused a surprise when they defeated Qatar 3-1 on March 25. This was the first time Kyrgyzstan had defeated Qatar in history, and at the same time, they had a slim hope of making it into the play-off group.

On the other hand, Qatar has almost lost hope of qualifying directly for the 2026 World Cup, as it is 6 points behind Uzbekistan.

In this group, Iran is the first team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup after a 2-2 draw with direct competitor Uzbekistan. This is the 7th time in history that this country has participated in the biggest football festival on the planet.

Mbappe recreates goal in 2022 World Cup final In the first leg of the Champions League play-off round on the morning of February 12, Mbappe scored with a volley, reminiscent of his own impressive goal in the 2022 World Cup final.

Source: https://znews.vn/trieu-tien-het-co-hoi-du-world-cup-2026-post1540866.html