North Korea vs Kyrgyzstan

North Korea welcomes Kyrgyzstan on Thursday, fully aware that their World Cup qualifying journey has already ended.

While the hosts languish at the bottom of Group A in the third round of Asian qualifiers, Kyrgyzstan desperately needs a victory to keep their slim chances of advancing to the fourth round alive.

North Korea managed to scrape through the second round to reach this stage, but expectations of further progress toward an unlikely World Cup berth were low. As anticipated, they’ve struggled, failing to secure a single win in their eight matches, earning just two points and trailing fourth place by eight.

Adding to their frustration, five of their six losses were by a single goal, with their latest defeat coming against UAE, who scored a dramatic 98th-minute winner for a 2-1 victory in Riyadh.

Under Sin Yong-nam’s leadership, North Korea now aims to finish their campaign on a positive note. Gaining four points from their final two matches could help them avoid the group’s bottom spot. However, their form is concerning, with five consecutive losses and only three wins in their last 14 competitive games, including a notable victory over Syria.

Kyrgyzstan, similarly viewed as underdogs in this group, have defied expectations with two impressive wins against some of Asia’s top teams. They previously defeated North Korea 1-0 in the reverse fixture and stunned Qatar with a 3-1 triumph in March.

For a nation that has never advanced beyond the Asian Cup’s round of 16, that Qatar result was a major achievement, keeping Maksim Lisitsyn’s squad in contention as they approach the final two matches. While reliant on other results, victories over North Korea and UAE could position Kyrgyzstan to potentially overtake Qatar for fourth place in the group.