South Korea were held to a 1-1 draw by Thailand in Seoul in the second round of Asia's preliminaries for the 2026 World Cup on Thursday in their first game since Juergen Klinsmann was sacked after a disappointing Asian Cup campaign.

Son Heung-Min had put the home side ahead three minutes before the break when he side-footed home from eight yards out, but Supanhat Mueanta levelled from close range in the 61st minute.

The result denied interim coach Hwang Sun-hong victory in his first game in charge, although the South Koreans still lead Group C by three points from Thailand at the halfway point after China were held to a 2-2 draw by Singapore.

The top two finishers in each of the nine groups advance to the next phase of qualifying, where Asia's eight guaranteed qualifiers for the finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be determined.

Wu Lei scored twice for China as new coach Branko Ivankovic made his debut in the dugout, but Singapore fought back with goals from Faris Ramli and Jacob Mahler to claim their first point in the group.

Group B leaders Japan picked up all three points from their meeting with North Korea, Ao Tanaka scoring after 81 seconds as Hajime Moriyasu's side secured a 1-0 win to claim their third victory.

The Japanese have nine points from three games and lead Syria by five points after Hector Cuper's outfit were held to a 1-1 draw in Myanmar.

Kyrgyzstan sealed a 2-0 win over Taiwan in Group D despite playing 66 minutes with 10 men due to Said Datsiev's sending off for a second yellow card while Indonesia defeated Vietnam 1-0 in Jakarta in Group F.

Eldor Shomurodov gave Uzbekistan the lead in their 2-0 win over hosts Hong Kong in Group E as Srecko Katanec's team moved three points ahead of Iran, who face Turkmenistan later on Thursday.

Asian Cup finalists Jordán eased to a 3-0 victory over Pakistan, with Mousa Tamari scoring twice to take the visitors onto four points from three games with Group G leaders Saudi Arabia due to face Tajikistan.

Australia's Keanu Baccus and Kye Rowles scored in their 2-0 win over Lebanon in Group I to continue their perfect start to the qualifiers.

Source:
courtesy of ESPN

by ESPN NEWS

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