Sports Mole previews Friday’s International Friendlies clash between South Korea and Bolivia, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
South Korea and Bolivia start their journey to the 2026 World Cup with a friendly clash on Friday, November 14.
With the hosts becoming familiar with South American opposition lately, this one gives them another chance to test themselves against a tricky team.
Match preview
South Korea were clinical in their World Cup Qualifiers, finishing their third round top of Group B without suffering a single defeat.
The Asian nation are set for their 12th appearance at the global showpiece, but preparations must get underway now for the finals.
During the previous international break, the Taegeuk Warriors secured an impressive 2-0 victory against Paraguay, after the 5-0 humiliation at the hands of Brazil.
Coach Hong Myung-bo will be hoping his side can continue placing that heavy defeat aside and rather focus on improving their form in the lead-up to next year’s tournament.
Friday’s encounter at the Daejeon World Cup Stadium allows the hosts to test different scenarios and offers the coach a chance to try various combinations.
Considering that they are unbeaten against Bolivia and are ranked 54 places higher in FIFA’s official world rankings, the hosts are likely to land another huge win against South American opposition.
Bolivia impressed many when they beat Brazil on the final matchday in South American World Cup Qualification.
The result means that La Verde grabbed the only inter-confederation playoff spot available and will represent the continent in March next year to determine the final two teams to qualify for the World Cup.
If they can somehow get through to that final, Bolivia will be making only their fourth appearance at the finals, and their first since 1994.
Since he was appointed the head coach in 2024, Oscar Villegas has had a mixed bag of results, winning and losing six of his 14 games in charge (D2).
The visitors have won three of their last five internationals, but they are yet to triumph over South Korea in three attempts and have not scored a goal against this opposition.
South Korea International Friendlies form:
South Korea form (all competitions):
Bolivia International Friendlies form:
Bolivia form (all competitions):
Team News
Korea have been decimated by injuries ahead of this international break, with Feyenoord midfielder Hwang In-beom, Birmingham City’s Paik Seung-ho and Ulsan Hyundai’s winger Lee Dong-gyeong all ruled out of the upcoming matches.
Seo Min-woo and Bae Jun-ho, the latter from Stoke City, were added to the squad on Monday in the hope of filling those gaps.
In the final third, the hosts will be ably led by Son Heung-Min, while the Genk forward Oh Hyeon-gyu provides cover for the former Tottenham Hotspur captain.
Son has been in great form since moving to MLS, returning figures of 10 goals and four assists in 12 games for Los Angeles FC.
The visitors do not have any fresh injury concerns and are heading into this round of international fixtures with a full-strength squad.
Just like the previous international break, centre-back Efrain Morales is not in the squad, so captain Luis Haquin is expected to partner with Diego Arroyo in the heart of the defence.
Robson Matheus is likely to form a trio in the middle of the park, with Gabriel Villamil and Ervin Vaca alongside him in the Bolivian engine room, while Enzo Monteiro is likely to spearhead the visitors’ attack.
South Korea possible starting lineup:
Seung-gyu; Moon-hwan, Min-jae, Yu-min, Tae-Seok; Jin-Seob, Jin-gyu, Du-Jae; Kang-in, Eom, Heung-min
Bolivia possible starting lineup:
Lampe; Medina, Haquin, Arroyo, Fernandez; Matheus, Vaca, Villamil; Miguelito, Monteiro, Garcia
We say: South Korea 2-0 Bolivia
Bolivia’s drought against Korea is expected to continue here, considering they blanked in two of their previous four outings in all competitions.
With the home crowd behind them, this Korean side should give them something to cheer about with another victory over South American opposition.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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