Led by Jürgen Klinsmann, the South Korean national soccer team is in full swing for the 2026 World Cup in North and Central America. Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), and other elite members of the squad will be on hand.

The ‘Klinsmann Ho’ will convene at a hotel in Seoul on the 13th and begin their training at Mokdong Sports Complex the same afternoon. Klinsmann, who took over the reins in February, will be taking a major step toward qualifying for the World Cup in North and Central America.

The Taeguk Warriors, who reached the round of 16 at last year’s World Cup in Qatar, will be looking to qualify for their 11th consecutive World Cup and 12th overall.

South Korea will face Singapore at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Sept. 16 and China at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Center on Sept. 21 in the second round of Asian qualifying for the North American Championship.

Asia has been awarded 8.5 qualifying spots for the 2026 North American Championship.

South Korea will compete in Group C alongside Singapore, China and Thailand. They will play six games per team, home and away, through June of next year and must finish in the top two in their group to qualify for the third qualifying round.

The third qualifier will feature 18 teams divided into three groups of six teams each. The top six teams from each group advance directly to the main draw.

The six teams that finish 3-4 in each group will be divided into two more groups of three teams, with two additional first-place teams from each group. The two runners-up in each group will compete in a playoff and intercontinental playoff to become the protagonists of Chapter 0.5.

Klinsmann has called up his best squad, including the European side, for the first gateway to the World Cup.

English Premier League (EPL) top scorer Son Heung-min (8 goals) and Hwang Hee-chan (6 goals – Wolverhampton) arrived on December 12 in high spirits. Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), who was named to the best 11 in the French Ligue 1 for two consecutive weeks, and Kim Min-jae, who has adapted perfectly to the Bundesliga, were also called up.

The team unpacked at a hotel in downtown Seoul instead of the National Training Center (NFC) in Paju, where they usually gather. 보스토토

The KFA has a contract with Paju NFC until this year and is considering renewing it ahead of the opening of the Cheonan Football Center in Cheonan at the end of next year.

Considering the somewhat outdated facilities and the cold weather in Paju, the team decided to stay at a hotel in Seoul instead of the NFC and train at Mokdong Stadium.