South Korea vs Qatar: Match Preview and Prediction

South Korea vs Qatar
World Cup Qualifier – Asian Qualifier
Date: Thursday, 6th October 2016
Kick-off: 12:00 UK
Venue: Suwon World Cup Stadium.

South Korea were held to a 0-0 draw by Syria in their second fixture in the third round of World Cup qualifiers. They also struggled in the opening 3-2 win against China as they almost squandered a 3 goals lead late in the second half. However, Korea have kept clean sheets in each of their 7 games in the second round and scored a total of 24 goals. The 2 goals against China was the first they conceded in over 630 minutes of football.

Qatar lost both their first two matches, 2-0 away to Iran and 1-0 at home to Uzbekistan. Unlike the score-line suggests, the Qataris put up a real fight in each matches and must consider themselves unlucky to be on the losing end. They conceded two late goals in the injury time against Iran, while Uzbeks scored just 4 minutes before the full time whistle.

South Korea vs Qatar: Head-to-Head Stats

Qatar and South Korea were also grouped together in the third qualifying round of 2014 FIFA World Cup. Korea won both legs with a 2-1 margin at home and a heavy 4-1 margin in the away leg at Qatar.

Korea have lost only once in the 7 matches played against Qatar since 1980. The lone defeat came in the 1984 Asia Cup, while the Korea won 4 times and drawn 2.

South Korea vs Qatar: Prediction

Korea will be desperate to bounce back from the slip against Syria in the previous round when they face Qatar on Thursday. They a team that haven’t lost a game at home since October 2014. At the same time one must expect a determined effort from the away side, as they have already tormented Iran and Uzbekistan in their last two matches.

But Korea is a quality side and have a very good head-to-head record against the Qataris. They must be able to negotiate this tie without much problems. And we might see a higher number of goals in this match as four of the last five meetings between these two sides have seen both teams scoring and over 2.5 goals in total.