Son Heung-min takes South Korea to the skies, China wins in a landslide at the last minute

The Korean team won beautifully and continued to be undefeated.

After 4 matches of the 3rd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia, the Korean team is one of 3 teams with an unbeaten record. Son Heung-min still shows the qualities of a star, becoming the locomotive to help the Korean team's attack play sublimely.

In the match against Kuwait, Son Heung-min continued to be used by coach Hong Myeong-bo on the left wing. In response, the midfielder currently playing for Tottenham played brilliantly in the first half, continuously creating dangerous situations. In the 19th minute, the captain of the Korean team scored from the penalty spot, helping the Korean team lead 2-0. Before that, the highest striker Oh Se-hun helped the Korean team open the score in the 10th minute with a brave aerial battle.

Son Heung-min (No. 7) continued his excellent form, helping the Korean team lead 2-0 after the first half.

In addition to the 2-0 lead, the Korean team also created an overwhelming game in the first half. Despite being the away team, with a squad of quality stars, coach Hong Myeong-bo's students continuously pushed up the formation, controlled the ball up to 80% and launched 6 shots (3 times more than the Kuwait team).

Not only Son Heung-min, other midfielders of the Korean team such as Lee Kang-in, Lee Jae-sung possess skillful techniques, constantly tormenting the defense of the Kuwait team. At the end of the first half, Lee Jae-sung had a smart move, entered the penalty area to head the ball but unfortunately the ball hit the crossbar.

Meanwhile, Kuwait was almost defeated in the first half. Coach Juan Antonio Pizzi’s team only had 2 shots and both missed the target. Kuwait’s midfield was “suffocated” by the Korean team. The home team’s midfield and forward lines were deadlocked, without any connection.

Kuwait team (blue shirt) faced many difficulties even though playing at home

In the second half, the scenario did not change much as the Korean team continued to play aggressively. However, while the strikers kept wasting opportunities, the Korean team's net suddenly shook in the 60th minute. The player who brought joy to the home team was striker Mohammad Daham.

However, that was all the Kuwait team could do in this match. In the remaining minutes, the home team had to brace themselves against the quality attacks of the Korean team. In the 74th minute, young player Bae Jun-ho finished accurately, sealing a 3-1 victory for the Korean team.

With an easy win on Kuwait's home field, South Korea continued to extend their unbeaten streak in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup to 5 matches. Coach Hong Myeong-bo's team continued to lead Group B with 13 points, 6 points ahead of second-place Jordan (South Korea played 1 more match). Meanwhile, Kuwait only had 3 points, ranking 5th in Group B.

Chinese team won overwhelmingly

In the match at the same time, the Chinese team will be visiting Bahrain in Group C. Before this match, the Chinese team was under a lot of pressure as they were at the bottom of the table with only 3 points. Officials from the Chinese Football Association also met privately with coach Ivankovic, giving him an ultimatum not to lose any matches in November.

However, the Chinese team's playing style did not change much compared to previous matches. The Chinese team attacked weakly, without any dangerous shots towards the Bahrain team's goal in the first half. The absence of conductor Wu Lie made the Chinese team's midfield play disappointingly, only holding the ball 30% of the time in this half.

Fortunately, when the Chinese team did not play well, the home team Bahrain could not show much either. Despite creating an overwhelming game, coach Dragan Talajić's team lacked precision in the final touches, causing the match to end in a 0-0 draw.

The Chinese team (in white) still showed a lackluster performance against Bahrain.

In the second half, the Chinese team made many changes but still played stalemate. When everyone thought the match would end in a 0-0 draw, in the last minute of the match, Zhang Yuning unexpectedly helped the Chinese team win the match 1-0 with a tap-in from the 6m line. Notably, before Zhang Yuning scored, the Bahrain team had just had their goal disallowed by VAR for offside.

With a 1-0 victory, the Chinese team has 6 points after 5 matches, rising to 4th place in Group C. Coach Ivankovic's team has the same number of points as Australia and Saudi Arabia - 2nd and 3rd respectively, but had to rank behind due to inferior sub-index.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/son-heung-min-dua-han-quoc-bay-cao-doi-tuyen-trung-quoc-thang-vo-oa-phut-cuoi-185241114230803053.htm