South Korea men's football head coach Hong Myung-bo said Wednesday he could not yet predict the best possible scenario for his side at the upcoming draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Hong landed at Dulles International Airport, near Washington, earlier in the day in order to attend the World Cup draw scheduled at noon Friday at the Kennedy Center in the US capital, or 2 a.m. Saturday.
"Playing at a World Cup itself is a huge honor, for me personally as well," Hong told reporters upon his arrival. He previously coached South Korea at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and played at the 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002 tournaments. "The World Cup will begin in earnest after the draw in a couple of days."
The 48 participating nations were divided into four pots of 12 based on FIFA rankings released last month, with the three co-host countries, the United States, Canada and Mexico, automatically placed into Pot 1 and the qualifiers of the remaining European and interconfederation playoffs set to be drawn into the last pot.
South Korea, at No. 22 in the FIFA rankings for November, ended up in Pot 2, alongside some tournament dark horses and middle powers. Since teams in the same pot will not face each other in the group stage, South Korea will avoid some top-20 nations, such as Croatia, Morocco, Colombia and Japan, who recently upset No. 5 Brazil.
Aside from the three co-hosts, Pot 1 teams include the defending champion Argentina and perennial contenders, such as Spain, France and Brazil.
Out of Pot 3, Norway could give opposing defenders fits given the presence of the otherworldly goal scorer, Erling Haaland. Italy, world No. 12, will be in Pot 4 if they survive the European playoffs.
In favorable scenarios, South Korea could be drawn with Canada, world No. 27 still seeking their first World Cup win; 61st-ranked South Africa; and 86th-ranked New Zealand.
Hong, though, refused to look into his crystal ball.
"I can't predict it," he said when asked what the best-case draw will be for South Korea.
Pressed further on teams he'd like to avoid out of Pot 1 and Pot 3, Hong smiled and said: "It's hard to say. I don't know the answers right now."
Hong said he will visit venues for South Korean matches and will determine the site for the team's base camp after the draw. (Yonhap)
