Korea Republic vs Bolivia
With the November international break in full flow there’s plenty of action for SBOTOP football fans to take in and, on Friday at the Daejeon World Cup Stadium, South Korea welcome Bolivia in what promises to be a competitive clash.
The Tigers of Asia, managed by Hong Myung-bo, have booked their place at the 2026 World Cup finals while La Verde, managed by Oscar Villegas, still have work to do, and they will be looking at this game, International Friendly: South Korea vs Bolivia as a chance to keep improving prior to their last throw of the dice in the intercontinental play-offs next spring.
The South Korea vs Bolivia betting odds back a home win for a nation which has grown in stature consistently for decades, and boasts one of the best players of the past decade, Son Heung-min. The South Americans don’t have any players with that level of fame, but they held their own in the CONMEBOL league and they will certainly give the Tigers of Asia a fight.
Korea’s consistent quality
South Korea qualified for an 11th successive World Cup finals in June when they beat Iran 2-0 at Basra International Stadium. That was the ninth of ten rounds in the Asian third stage, and Korea celebrated by slapping Kuwait 4-0 in their final game. Hong’s side have played a sequence of friendlies since then and met two South American nations in October when they took a 5-0 hammering at the hands of Brazil and followed that up with a 2-0 victory over Paraguay.
In total the Tigers of Asia have won five matches, drawn one and lost two since qualifying for 2026 World Cup and they have two more to play, against Bolivia on Friday and then Ghana is Seoul next Tuesday. Korea’s qualification was never really in doubt and, over the past few years, they have been supremely consistent, rising to 22nd place in the FIFA World Rankings.
Household names include Bayern Munich centre back Kim Min-jae, who has picked up 73 caps and Paris Saint Germain’s 24 year old attacking midfielder Lee Kang-in, who has scored 11 goals in 42 games. But the most famous of all is Tottenham Hotpsur and Korea legend Son Heung-min, who has scored 53 goals in 138 internationals. He is now playing for Los Angeles in the MLS and Son is a sure fire bet to feature heavily in the South Korea vs Bolivia highlights package. The classy forward scored in South Korea’s recent 2-0 win over the USA and will have his sights set again for the visit of Bolivia.
Player to watch
But I’ve picked Jens Castrop, the 22 year old Borussia Monchengladbach star, as my player to watch for the clash with Bolivia. Born in Germany to a South Korean mother and German father, the box-to-box midfielder represented Germany at youth level before affiliating to Korea this summer. Castrop has picked up three caps so far and his energy and versatility make him a key member of the creative until, while also providing defensive cover when needed.
Bolivia’s World Cup dream
While Korea have become Asia’s beacon of light on the world football stage, Bolivia have been overshadowed by a relentless group of South American giants, some of the best football nations in the history of the game. Competing with the likes of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, La Verde have qualified for the World Cup finals just three times, in 1930, 1950 and 1994.
But after climbing to seventh in the highly competitive CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers, finishing above Peru, Venezuela and Chile, La Verde are still in with a shout of making the short trip up to Mexico and North America next year.
La Verde made the play-off thanks to a 1-0 win over the mighty Brazil as 21 year old Miguel Terceros calmly slotted home the winning penalty. In fact Bolivia won two of their last three qualification games, also beating Chile and losing to Colombia, and they have since played two friendlies, beating Jordan and losing to Russia in October.
Captained by Al-Tai centre back Luis Haquin, Bolivia will head to the intercontinental play-offs in March where they could face a side from CONCACAF, or the CAF, as they await the outcome from the other federations.
Player to watch
25 year old midfielder Hector Cuellar plays in La Paz for Bolivian club Always Ready and his all action displays earned him international recognition in 2023, when he made his debut in a friendly loss to Panama. Over the past two seasons Cuellar has become a regular for La Verde as a combative player, making his name in a friendly game against Colombia when he fouled Bayern Munich star Luis Diaz, a tackle which caused a mass brawl and resulted in two players being red carded.
Cuellar was merely booked!
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