South Korea faces potential WCup qualifier in North Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The South Korean men’s national soccer team’s path to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will include a crucial road match against North Korea, but it’s unclear whether a rare match between the Koreas in Pyongyang will materialize considering the political tension between the rivals.

With the Koreas, there’s never a separation between sports and politics. The North has previously refused to allow South Korean players to enter the country for World Cup qualifiers, forcing FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, to relocate its home games to China.

Drawn to the same Asian qualifying group on Wednesday, the Koreas are scheduled for a match in the North on Oct. 15 and in the South on June 4 next year.

Inter-Korean relations have cooled amid a deadlock in nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.

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