North Korea – World Cup Preview

Check the latest World Cup Odds from Betfred.com

North Korea are by far and away the most mysterious team in the World Cup this year, and probably ever. Politically the country is shrouded in secrecy and as a result so is the club. There have been mishaps, pitch invasions and a seeming over confidence which may mean they end up as the tournament’s poorest outfit.

But then it’s unfair not to give them the benefit of the doubt, North Korea could be excellent after all: We just don’t know. To qualify North Korea had a long way to come, they were entered in the first round of the Asian qualification competition. They proceeded to thrash Mongolia (9-2 overall) and worked their way up to a defensive draw against Saudi Arabia which meant them qualifying on goal difference.

If one thing can be assumed it’s that North Korea will be defensive minded. Coach Kim Jong Hun got the team to the World Cup on the back of a good number of clean sheets and draws despite what that result against Mongolia might suggest.

Of the attacking force that ply their trade outside of North Korea, Hong Yong-Jo has a record of 11 goals in 41 games. He has captained the team before and will likely do so again, other threats include Jong Tae-Se who is proving a decent striking force in the Japanese league and reportedly has 15 goals in 22 games for North Korea.

Behind all this secrecy we do know that North Korea once made it to the World Cup before in 1966 where they made it impressively to the quarter finals. They even beat Italy and had a good go at Portugal before crashing out 5-3 losers.

It’s thought be unlikely that anything similar will happen this year but North Korea are truly an unknown quantity.