The Korean soccer team's first opponent, Palestine, is full of motivation.

Everyone shares a sense of mission to bring joy to the war-torn people.

Palestine will face South Korea at 8 p.m. on Friday at Seoul World Cup Stadium in the first match of the third Asian qualifying round for the FIFA Confederations Cup North America 2026.

The Palestinian team, which arrived in South Korea ahead of the match, held a training session at the Goyang Sports Complex Auxiliary Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday to acclimatize to the local conditions.

The Palestinian Football Association kept the training session closed to the public.

A Palestinian team official who spoke to Yonhap near the training center hoped that the Korean media would pay more attention to the difficult situation in his country.

“Our team has great support in Palestine,” the official said, ”but we have had to go through many difficult situations. We were not properly prepared because of the war.”

Palestine reached the round of 16 at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in January and February.

It was their third appearance in the round of 16 after failures in 2015 (three losses) and 2019 (two draws), when they were eliminated in the group stage.

The upset was a consolation for Palestinians, who have been embroiled in Israel's nearly year-long war with militant Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“Every time we win a soccer match, the people of Gaza come out into the streets,” Gaza-born Mohamed Saleh said after the round of 16 was confirmed, describing the feeling as ”indescribable.”

Asked if he remembered Saleh's comments, the official said: “I do. Unfortunately, he was not with the national team this time,” the official said.

“The Palestinian professional league was suspended immediately after the war, and players who should have been in the national team were not selected. There were players who couldn't leave Gaza because of the war in Gaza,” he explains.

For the Palestinian national team, playing South Korea away from home is more of a “challenge.

South Korea, which boasts world-class players like Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), is ranked 23rd in the FIFA rankings. It is third in Asia, behind Japan (18th) and Iran (20th).

Palestine is ranked 96th. Palestine is ranked 15th in Asia.

While South Korea will face a difficult task due to the large power differential, the Palestinian players have a reason to win, emphasized a Palestinian national team official.

“We need to give hope to a suffering people. That's what we want to do with soccer,” he said. 토토사이트 추천