Hong Hyun-seok is feeling comfortable playing under Jürgen Klinsmann.

The Klinsmann-led South Korean national soccer team will face Singapore at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Sept. 16 in the first match of Group C of the second Asian qualifying round for the FIFA Confederations Cup North America 2026. The team will then travel to China for the second leg on Sept. 21.

The journey to the 2026 FIFA World Cup North America begins in earnest. South Korea is in a group with Singapore, China, and Thailand in the second round of qualifying. If they finish in the top two, they will advance to the third round. If they finish in the top two in the third round, they will qualify for the World Cup.

The team convened on March 13 for the first game of the second round. Not everyone made the trip. Klinsmann held the first day’s training at the Mokdong Main Stadium instead of the Paju National Training Center (NFC), and only 11 players showed up.

Eight of them – Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), Kim Young-kwon, Seol Young-woo, Kim Tae-hwan, Cho Hyun-woo (Ulsan Hyundai), Kim Jin-soo, and Moon Sun-min (Jeonbuk Hyundai) – trained indoors, while Hwang Eui-jo (Norwich City), Oh Hyun-gyu (Celtic), Cho Kyu-sung (Mitwillan), and Hong Hyun-seok (Gent) were late arrivals.

Day 2 training with the full squad. In a pre-training interview, Hong Hyun-seok said of the World Cup qualifiers, “It’s new. I’ve always watched the second and final qualifiers on TV, but now I have the opportunity to play in person. It’s a different feeling.” He expressed his excitement.

• The World Cup qualifiers have begun. This must be something you’ve been dreaming about?

It’s new. I’ve always watched the second and final qualifiers on TV, but now I have the chance to play in person. It’s a different feeling.

• What did your team say to you after your gold medal at the Asian Games?

They put a congratulatory message on the stadium screen, and I got a lot of congratulations. I didn’t take the gold medal and show it, I just kept it at home. 보스토토 주소

• You’ve got a big game coming up, like the Asian Cup, instead of an A-match trial.

It’s definitely a more important match compared to the trials. Each mistake will have a more direct impact on the outcome of the match and the victory, so I will have to focus more.

• Hwang In-beom praised his ‘junior’ Hong Hyun-seok.

(Hwang) Inbum is honored that his older brother said something nice about him. I think Inbum still has a long way to go to catch up with his brother. There are many things he needs to improve on to compete on an equal footing. Shooting, passing to the side, breaking pressure, first touch…there are so many things.