Can the Thais make it half as exciting?
South Korea had not lost in 13 consecutive international matches. Under Jürgen Klinsmann, the Taegeuk Warriors were considered the hot favorites to win the 2024 Asian Cup, but then suffered a memorable 2-0 defeat to Jordan in the semifinals, which meant that the German coach is now history. Hwang Sun-hong is now on the bench on an interim basis for the World Cup qualifiers and will make his debut in the match between South Korea and Thailand – we will of course provide betting tips and odds for this debut in this article
The Thai national soccer team will be an interesting opponent at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. The Changsuek reached the round of 16 at this year’s Asian Cup and are certainly on the up. They also finished second in Group C of the World Cup qualifiers behind the Asian Tigers. Nevertheless, the prediction of a Taegeuk Warriors victory against Thailand is a no-brainer:
While the South Koreans have a number of world stars in their ranks – from Min-jae Kim to Heung-min Son and Kang-in Lee – Thailand will line up with a collective of almost completely nameless players. It is not unusual for such a difference in quality to be noticeable on the scoreboard. In the fall, for example, Changsuek lost an international match against Georgia 0:8.
Nevertheless, we believe that the Thais will not be completely defeated. The matches between the two nations have usually been close. The last time South Korea won with at least a three-goal difference was in 1983 against the Thai selection, on which we consequently apply a handicap of +3. Alternatively, the Asian handicap of +2.0 can also be played at Interwetten – by the way, the following banner leads to the current new customer bonus of this bookie – with a slightly higher risk, but also potentially greater return
South Korea – Statistics & current form
The South Korean national soccer team is one of the main representatives of the AFC and last missed out on the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Since then, the Taegeuk Warriors have been represented at every World Cup without exception, reaching the knockout phase at three of the last six finals.
The highlight so far was the 2002 World Cup on home soil, when they made it all the way to the semi-finals before two consecutive defeats sealed fourth place. South Korea are also two-time Asian champions.
South Korea no longer under Klinsmann for the first time
At the beginning of 2024, however, the Asian Tigers, then still coached by Jürgen Klinsmann, missed out on title number three at the Asian Cup. Despite being the big favorites, the Taegeuk Warriors surprisingly lost to Jordan in the semifinals.
This defeat not only ended a 13-match unbeaten streak (nine wins, four draws), but also Jürgen Klinsmann’s tenure. A final successor has not yet been found. Hwang Sun-hong will take over on an interim basis for the two qualifiers against Thailand
South Korea are taking big steps towards participation in the World Cup
Little should go wrong in the first leg in front of a home crowd if you look at the odds of the bookmakers for South Korea against Thailand, which make the Tigers from Asia the heavy favorites. The top odds for the three-way system are just 1.09 for the South Koreans to win at home.
No wonder, because so far the Taegeuk Warriors have had no problems whatsoever on their way to the next World Cup. The 22nd-placed team in the FIFA world rankings have won both of their Group C qualifying matches so far with a total of 8-0 goals and, as recently as last November, they beat China, probably their closest rivals alongside Thailand, 3-0 away in Shenzhen.
Predicted South Korea line-up:
Hyeon-woo – Young-gwon, Min-jae, Jin-su, Kyung-won – Woo-yeong, Jae-sung, In-beom, Kang-in – Heung-min, Gue-sung
Thailand – Statistics & current form
The Thai national soccer team has never managed to successfully qualify for a World Cup, which is also due to the fact that the AFC has always had a maximum of six participants.
For the 2026 World Cup, however, there will be at least nine teams for the first time, with a tenth nation still having the chance to advance via the intercontinental play-offs. As a result, the Changsuek (the war elephants) can now have serious hopes of making their World Cup debut
Thailand need something tangible from their clash with South Korea
After two games, Thailand are in second place in Group C of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers and would progress to the third of five rounds of the AFC’s complex qualifying system.
A 2-1 home defeat against China was followed by a brilliant 3-1 away win in Singapore. However, if the Taegeuk Warriors win against Thailand in South Korea, second place will in all likelihood be a thing of the past. The Changsuek must therefore definitely strive to take home something worthwhile from Seoul
Thailand lack quality in the squad
However, Thailand have won just two of their last ten international matches (three draws, five defeats), which is partly due to the fact that coach Masatada Ishii is not exactly blessed with a team full of superstars, to put it mildly.
19 of the 23 players nominated for the two games against South Korea (the return leg takes place in Bangkok next Tuesday) earn their living in the Thai league system, while the four legionnaires are by no means under contract with big clubs. Meanwhile, Nicholas Mickelson (Odense) and Suphanat Mueanta (OH Leuven) are the only two players to have made the jump to Europe, which says a lot about the quality of the squad.
Predicted Thailand line-up:
Khammai – Bunmathan, Hemviboon, Bureerat, Dolah, Thongsong – Yooyen, Songkrasin, Anan, Phala – Chaided
South Korea – Thailand head-to-head / H2H result
Head to head: 41 – 10 – 10
The two nations have met a total of 61 times and with 41 victories, the South Korean team clearly leads the head-to-head comparison. The Teageuk Warriors also won their last match to date against Thailand on March 27, 2016 as part of a test match in Bangkok. However, in their last competitive match to date, Changsuek won 2:1 by golden goal in the quarter-finals of the 1998 Asian Games.
South Korea – Thailand betting tip
The odds of all bookmakers are clearly and unmistakably in favor of the Taegeuk Warriors, who have lost only one of their last 14 international matches (nine wins, four draws) and are one of the absolute figureheads of the AFC despite their sobering elimination in the semi-finals of the 2024 Asian Cup. The fact that the Asian Tigers have also won 41 of their 61 international matches against the Thai side speaks volumes
Nevertheless, we believe the Thais will be able to keep this complicated away game at the top of Group C reasonably balanced, or at least not go down completely. The prediction of a handicap of +3 on Changsuek is therefore very interesting for South Korea vs Thailand
For the South Korean selection to win with a maximum difference of two goals, Betway offers odds of 1.85, which we play with three out of ten units.
