Hong Myung-bo's Squad Arrives in Milton Keynes, England... Preparing for Ivory Coast Match on the 28th

The South Korean national football team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, arrived in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, on the 23rd (local time) ahead of their friendly match against Ivory Coast.

The team departed from Incheon International Airport and, after a roughly 14-hour flight, landed at London Heathrow Airport. They then traveled about 80 kilometers to Milton Keynes, where they settled in.

Hong Myung-bo, head coach of the South Korean national football team, which is set to embark on a two-match European expedition, is departing through Incheon International Airport on the 23rd. Photo by Yonhap News

This trip included K League players such as Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan HD) and Kim Jin-kyu (Jeonbuk), along with the coaching staff. Key overseas-based players, including Son Heung-min (LAFC), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), and Lee Jae-sung (Mainz), also joined the squad locally.

Cho Kyu-sung and Lee Han-beom from Denmark's Midtjylland, as well as Jens Castrop from Borussia Mönchengladbach, have not joined the team yet, but it is expected that the entire squad will be present for the first training session scheduled for the 24th.

The national team will train for four days starting on the 24th and will play their first match of the March A-match doubleheader against Ivory Coast at 11:00 p.m. KST on the 28th. Ivory Coast is using this match as a practical test, keeping South Africa in mind in preparation for the 2026 North and Central America World Cup.

In the latest FIFA rankings, South Korea is ranked 22nd, while Ivory Coast is ranked 37th. The Ivory Coast squad features several players active in Europe, including Amad Diallo (Manchester United), Odilon Kossounou (Atalanta), Ibrahim Sangaré (Nottingham Forest), and Nicolas Pépé (Villarreal).

South Korea holds a record of one win in their only previous encounter with Ivory Coast. The two teams first met in a friendly held in London in March 2010, ahead of the 2010 South Africa World Cup finals, where South Korea claimed a 2-0 victory with goals from Lee Dong-gook and Kwak Tae-hwi.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.