South Korea will be looking to maintain their unbeaten run in their final World Cup qualifying match when they take on Kuwait at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. Meanwhile, the visitors travel to the South Korean capital aiming to reverse a slump in form that has seen them lose four of their last five games.

After a disappointing loss to Jordan in the Asian Cup semi-finals, South Korea have one goal in mind and that is to stay at the top of the list of Asian teams competing in the tournament by qualifying for their 11th consecutive World Cup and 13th consecutive World Cup.

Hong Myung-Bo's side easily defeated China, Thailand and Singapore in the second round, winning all but one of their six games and taking 16 of their 18 points heading into the decisive third qualifying round. The Asian Tigers got off to a slow start with a 0-0 draw with Palestine in the third round, but by matchday five they had all but completed the task by winning four straight games.

Three straight 1-1 draws between November and March seemed to slow South Korea's attack, but a 2-0 win over Iraq in their last game saw the Taegeuk Warriors return to form. Ahead of Tuesday's final, outstanding performances from Kim Jin-kyu and Oh Hyun-ki helped South Korea maintain their three-point lead over Jordan in Group B with 19 points from nine games. With the East Asian Football Championship just around the corner, the hosts will be eager to maintain momentum on Tuesday, and avoiding a 14-match losing streak will go a long way toward that goal.

Kuwait made an encouraging start by coming from behind to pick up a point in their third qualifying round opener against Jordan, but eight games on, they are still waiting for their first win. Struggling in World Cup qualifying, Juan Antonio Pizzi's side competed in the Gulf Cup and reached the semi-finals, where they lost 1-0 to Bahrain. This has also led to four losses in five games around the New Year, so it is no surprise that Kuwait currently sits bottom of their qualifying group with just five points from nine games.

Apart from North Korea, the Blue Wave are one of two teams that remain winless, having lost five straight games to their upcoming opponents, so there is little chance of changing that on Tuesday. More worryingly for the visitors is that they have not won a competitive match as a visiting team since 2023, although they did manage to hold Iraq to a 2-2 draw in their most recent away game in March.

South Korea's predicted starting lineup:

Jo; T Lee, Kwon, Jo, Seol; Park, I Hwang; H Hwang, J Lee, K Lee; Oh

Kuwait's predicted starting lineup:

Al Rashidi; Ghanam, Al-Enezi, Al-Hajeri, Dosari; Al-Defiri, Hani; Majid, Al Mutar, Daham; Nasser