FIFA President Gianni Infantino congratulated the South Korean men's football team on reaching the World Cup finals for the 11th consecutive time

FIFA President Jenny Infantino (55, Switzerland) congratulated the South Korean men's football team on its entry into the 2026 World Cup finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico, hailing it as an "impressive achievement".

FIFA President Zanny Infantino congratulated South Korean football on reaching the World Cup finals for the 11th time in a row.

Infantino left a message on Instagram on the 6th, Beijing time, to congratulate the South Korean national football team on entering the World Cup finals for 11 consecutive years. The South Korean team under the command of coach Hong Myung-bok won 2-0 thanks to relay scores from Kim Jin-gyu (Jeonbuk) and Oh Hyun-gyu (Heck) in Group B of the third phase of the 2026 World Cup Asian Qualifiers held at the Basra International Stadium in Iraq on the same day.

South Korea currently maintains the lead with 5 wins, 4 draws (19 points), and the gap with third-placed Iraq (12 points) has widened to 7 points, regardless of the result of the last match against Kuwait on the 10th, South Korea is at least second in the group and qualifies for the World Cup finals.

So far, South Korea has successfully entered the World Cup finals for 11 consecutive times since the 1986 Mexico tournament, and the 12th time in total, including the 1954 Swiss tournament in which it participated for the first time.

Infantino stressed: "Congratulations to South Korea on entering the finals of the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In a country other than Europe and South America, 11 consecutive finals have been reached, which is an impressive result. ”

So far, six countries have qualified for the finals in the World Cup more than 11 times in a row, including South Korea, Brazil (22 times), Germany (18 times), Argentina, Italy (14 times), and Spain (12 times). Infantino stressed: "South Korea's memories of reaching the semi-finals at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan are still clear. Looking forward to seeing South Korea again on the World Cup stage next summer. ”