Preview: South Korea vs El Salvador - prediction, team news, lineups

South Korea conclude their 2026 World Cup preparations with a warm-up match against El Salvador at America First Field in Utah on Thursday.

The two nations meet for the first time since June 2023 when they played out a 1-1 draw in a friendly held in Daejeon.

Match preview

South Korea did not make an ideal start to 2026, as they suffered a heavy 4-0 friendly defeat to Ivory Coast during March’s international break, which was followed three days later by a narrow 1-0 loss to Austria.

However, Hong Myung-bo’s side delivered a statement performance on Sunday, as they romped to an emphatic 5-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago in their first game on American soil ahead of this summer’s World Cup.

National icon Son Heung-min scored twice along with Cho Gue-sung, while Hwang Hee-chan was also on the scoresheet to help the Taegeuk Warriors claim their biggest international victory since June 2024 when they thrashed Singapore 7-0 in World Cup qualifying.

South Korea are gearing up for their 11th successive World Cup Finals after enjoying an unbeaten qualification campaign, winning 11 and drawing five of their 16 matches in total and scoring 40 goals in the process.

Ranked 25th in the world by FIFA, South Korea will be keen to end their warm-up campaign on a high with success over El Salvador, before they prepare for Group A fixtures against co-hosts Mexico, South Africa and Czechia at the World Cup, facing the latter in their opening game on June 12.

El Salvador’s painful wait to compete at the World Cup for the first time since 1982 goes on after they came up short in 2026 CONCACAF qualifying, suffering elimination in the third round.

La Selecta were beaten five times in six Group A matches and subsequently finished rock bottom behind Panama, Suriname and Guatemala, losing to the former two nations by an aggregate score of 7-0 in their final two fixtures.

Since missing out on World Cup qualification at the end of last year, 70-year-old head coach Hernan Dario Gomez has overseen an unbeaten start to 2026, drawing 2-2 with Dominican Republic before beating Martinique 1-0 during March’s international break.

Ranked 100th in the world by FIFA, El Salvador are now looking to win back-to-back international matches for the first time since November 2024 in the CONCACAF Nations League.

South Korea form (all competitions):

El Salvador form (all competitions):

Team News

Considering that Thursday’s game represents South Korea’s final warm-up fixture before the World Cup, head coach Hong may field a strong lineup that he intends to use in their Group A opener versus Czechia.

Son Heung-min is just two goals away from equalling South Korea’s all-time scoring record held by Cha Bum-kun for the last 40 years (58 goals), and the Los Angeles FC attacker is likely to start in the final third with Hwang Hee-chan and Lee Jae-sung.

However, centre-back Cho Yu-min will not be involved and has been ruled out of the World Cup after sustaining a foot injury last weekend. Uncapped Jo Wi-je has since been called up as his replacement.

As for El Salvador, their squad includes Son’s LAFC teammate Nathan Ordaz, who could start up front after scoring the first two goals for his country in the 2-2 draw with Dominican Republic earlier this year.

Captain and goalkeeper Mario Gonzalez could earn his 56th cap between the sticks behind centre-back pairing Julio Sibrian and Jorge Cruz, while midfielders Jairo Henriquez and Mayer Gil may also be included in the first XI.

South Korea possible starting lineup:

Kim Seung-gyu; Lee Ki-hyuk, Kim Min-jae, Lee Han-beom; Kim Moon-hwan, Kim Jin-gyu, Paik Seung-ho, Castrop; Hwang Hee-chan, Lee Jae-sung; Son Heung-min

El Salvador possible starting lineup:

Gonzalez; Clavel, Sibrian, Cruz, A. Henriquez; J. Henriquez, Martinez, Diaz, Gil; Vasquez, Ordaz

We say: South Korea 3-0 El Salvador

South Korea are in high spirits after their convincing victory last weekend and they will be regarded as firm favourites to beat a defensively frail El Salvador outfit, who have conceded in 13 of their last 16 international matches.

Seventy-five places separate these two nations in the FIFA World Rankings and we expect Hong’s side to dispatch their Central American counterparts with the attacking quality at their disposal.

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