Korea Republic men’s national team have extended their winning streak to three matches before taking part in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers next month.

Jürgen Klinsmann’s side defeated Vietnam 6-0 in a friendly game staged at Suwon World Cup Stadium on Tuesday. Kim Minjae and Hwang Heechan gave their side a two-goal lead in the first half, before Son Heungmin, Lee Kangin and Jeong Wooyeong also found the net to please 42,175 fans who flocked to the Big Bird. Having beaten Saudi Arabia and Tunisia in the previous friendlies, the Taegeuk Warriors have claimed their third win in as many matches.

After rounding off the series of friendlies with a perfect record, Korea Republic will participate in the second round of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup next month – they will face China PR, Thailand and Singapore, who have overcome Guam 3-1 on aggregate to advance to the second round in Group C.

Korea Republic will take on Singapore at home on 16 November, before meeting China PR on the road five days later. Next year will see them welcome Thailand on 21 March with the return match to take place away from home in five days time. They are set to face Singapore on the road on 6 June, before rounding off their campaign against China PR at home on 11 June.

A total of 36 teams take part in the second round, where they are divided into nine groups of four teams. Top two teams from each ground advance to the third round, automatically qualifying for the finals of the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 in the process.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be contested by 48 countries, with the world finals expanded to host 16 more nations. The tickets allocated to Asia have increased to 8.5, which will be decided over the course of four qualifying rounds and intercontinental playoffs.

Son Heungmin and Lee Kangin, who are regarded as the present and the future of Korean football respectively, started against Vietnam. It was the first time in seven months that the duo had started together since the 2-1 defeat by Uruguay in March. Son had missed out on the friendlies in June due to sports hernia surgery, before Lee was ruled out due to a thigh injury in September.

Son had remained doubtful for the Vietnam game after missing the match against Tunisia last week due to groin problems, but the Korea Republic captain recovered just in time to face Vietnam alongside Lee Kangin after quite a while.

Cho Guesung and Son Heungmin started up front; central midfielders Park Yongwoo and Lee Jaesung flanked by Hwang Heechan and Lee Kangin; Lee Kije, Kim Minjae, Jung Seunghyun and Seol Youngwoo at the back; and Jo Hyeonwoo between the sticks.

Korea Republic piled pressure on the Vietnamese right from the off, and duly took the lead after five minutes. Lee Kangin’s corner from the right was met by Kim Minjae, who ended up converting an attempted header with his shoulder.

The men in red kept up the pressure to double their advantage on 26 minutes, when Hwang Heechan latched onto a through ball from Lee Jaesung to fire home from the left side of the area. The hosts maintained their attack mined approach from then on, but could not translate their dominance into scoring more goals.

Klinsmann changed three defenders except Kim Minjae during the interval, as Kim Younggwon came off the bench to partner with Kim Minjae in central rearguard with Kim Jinsu and Kim Taehwan coming on to cover the flanks. Hwang Uijo and Jeong Wooyeong took the field on 65 minutes, as the German coach had promised to “give more opportunities to new players if the first half goes as well as we planned.”

Korea Republic went further ahead six minutes into the second half, when an attempted clearance to block Son Heungmin’s cross to Cho Guesung ended up in the back of the Vietnamese goal. Son then went to score his own on the hour mark, latching onto a pass from Hwang Heechan to put his name on the scoresheet.

The visitors were down to ten men shortly afterwards when Bui Hoang Viet Anh received his marching orders for a reckless tackle to stop Son Heungmin. Lee Kangin then scored his second goal in as many games with a clinical finish from his left foot on 70 minutes.

Klinsmann continued his experiment on various combinations, as Kim Jusung came off the bench to replace Kim Minjae on 76 minutes. After using all of their six substitutes, the host rounded off the comprehensive victory with another goal from Jeong Wooyeong who had finished as the top scorer at the Asian Games earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the tickets for the match were sold out earlier in the afternoon, with more than 41,000 seats in Suwon World Cup Stadium filled with the supporters of both teams. It was the third time in succession that the Big Bird was sold out since the friendly with Chile in September 2018 and Paraguay in June 2022 (except for the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Lebanon in September 2021 that was played behind closed doors due to COVID-19 outbreak).

Korea Republic 6-0 Vietnam

Goals: Kim Minjae 5’, Hwang Heechan 26’, Vo Minh Trong 51’ (o.g.), Son Heungmin 60’, Lee Kangin 70’, Jeong Wooyeong 86’

KOR: Jo Hyeonwoo, Lee Kije (Kim Jinsu 46’), Kim Minjae (Kim Jusung 76’), Jung Seunghyun (Kim Younggwon 46’), Seol Youngwoo (Kim Taehwan 46’), Hwang Heechan, Lee Jaesung (Jeong Wooyeong 65’), Park Yongwoo, Lee Kangin, Cho Guesung (Hwang Uijo 65’), Son Heungmin