South Korea Betting Trends

Son scores twice as South Korea advances in Asian World Cup qualifying

3h ago
Soccer News (AP)

SINGAPORE (AP) - Son Heung-min scored twice as South Korea thrashed Singapore 7-0 Thursday to advance to the final round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, while China still has work to do after a 1-1 draw with Thailand.

South Korea stayed top of Group C with 13 points from five games, with China second on eight points. Thailand is three points behind in third with one round to go, with the top two teams from each of the nine groups progressing to the final round of qualifying.

China has to play South Korea in its last game while Thailand hosts Singapore in Bangkok and could still clinch second place with a win if China loses.

It took just nine minutes for Lee Kang-in to open the scoring at a sold-out Singapore National Stadium, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder firing home from inside the area. Joo Min-gyu added a second soon after.

Son then netted twice in the second half, Lee added his second and there were late goals from Bae Joon-ho and Hwang Hee-chan.

China fell behind after 20 minutes in Shenyang to a goal from Supachok Sarachat. China's Ferdandinho missed a penalty early in the second half but Baihelamu Abuduwaili leveled for the home team with 11 minutes remaining.

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Australia, Japan and Iraq had already qualified and all three maintained their perfect records.

Australia won 2-0 at Bangladesh with goals from Ajdin Hrustic and Kusini Yengi in Dhaka.

Japan thrashed Myanmar 5-0 in Yangon with Keito Nakamura and Koki Ogawa scoring twice each. Iraq defeated Indonesia 2-0.

Mehdi Taremi, who is leaving Porto in July to join Inter Milan, scored a hat trick as the already-qualified Iran won 4-2 in Hong Kong.

Elsewhere, Vietnam and Oman stayed in contention to advance to the next round with victories over Philippines and Taiwan, respectively.

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