Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the international friendly match.
Ahead of a home FIFA World Cup, the United States are playing only friendlies. South Korea qualified for the tournament by winning their group in the final round of Asian Football Confederation qualifying. They have also moved into fixtures where there is no need to grind out points.
USA
Prestige still matters, particularly for the United States. The Americans need to showcase themselves well before the summer of 2026. Mauricio Pochettino has named his squad for the games against South Korea and Japan — the American squad features more Major League Soccer players than usual. The Europe-based stars are mostly in attack: Christian Pulisic, Timothy Weah, Josh Sargent.
South Korea
South Korea head coach Hong Myung-bo has also named his 26-man squad. A naturalised player, Jens Castrop, could feature for South Korea for the first time. The 22-year-old midfielder was born and raised in Germany, came through every rung of the German youth national teams, but did not make the senior level. After three full seasons in the 2. Bundesliga with 1. Nürnberg, he made his top-flight debut for Borussia Mönchengladbach in August, and he obtained a South Korean passport thanks to his mother. In addition to him, nine new players could feature for South Korea.
USA vs South Korea Prediction
On balance, the hosts are rightly positioned as favourites. That said, a South Korea win is certainly within reach. These sides have not met for a long time, since 2014 (2:0 to the United States), yet it is clear the visitors are very close in level, if not higher, not least with Son Heung-min, who joined Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer this summer. We think the attacks have the edge over the defences, so we are backing Both Teams To Score.
