Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the 2026 World Cup qualifying match.
The odds show that the home side has no chance to win. Betting on South Korea has no sense either. Will we see an easy win of the away team?
Kuwait
Kuwait are certainly not on par with the South Koreans. In 2024, they played 10 matches, winning only one. How did they reach the third round of Asian qualifying? They simply defeated Afghanistan twice—4:0 away and 1:0 at home. Against India, who finished below them, Kuwait managed back-to-back goalless draws. This autumn has also seen mostly draws, but the level of national teams like Jordan, Iraq, and Palestine is much closer to Kuwait than to South Korea. After all, even Oman managed to score four against the hosts.
South Korea
South Korea are leading the group and are already looking towards America: one of the top two spots is certain to be theirs. Surprisingly, their biggest challenge came from Palestine, who are currently at the bottom of the table. They drew 0:0 in Seoul, despite the hosts having 16 shots and 4 clear chances. Scoring against South Korea is possible, as Iraq did it twice but conceded three in return. Overall, they are on an eight-match unbeaten run (6 wins, 2 draws, and a goal difference of 20-4).
Kuwait vs South Korea Prediction
In theory, the hosts have a slim chance of scoring or drawing, but this hasn't happened in their head-to-head meetings since 2011. Betting on a clean sheet win for South Korea is an option, but it's better to go for a comfortable victory with a two-goal margin. The visitors are certainly capable of this.
